The Green Energy Africa Summit (GEAS) has launched the 2023 Energy Investment Village (EIV), an exciting deal-pitching event for African clean-tech starts-ups and energy projects.
The EIV is now open for entries from emerging African energy businesses, and will culminate in a lion’s den-type pitching event during the GEAS in Cape Town on 11 October 2023.
“We are proud to have been able to put some of Africa’s best emerging clean-tech firms in touch with serious funders looking to invest in the sector,” says GEAS Vice President for Energy Paul Sinclair, “We look forward to amplifying that commitment with this year’s event, and helping to develop black-owned business in the booming green-energy industry.”
The EIV is a partnership between Saldanha Bay Innovation Campus and the Research Institution for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS), supported by Anza Capital and Afida.
This is the second year of the EIV. Last year’s event saw finalists representing local clean-tech projects pitching to energy leaders holding potential investments worth more than $100 billion.
The event was won by Brayfoil Technologies, a South African wind-energy company whose adaptive turbine designs enable more efficient applications in the wind energy, aerospace, sailing and automotive sectors. Following the win, the Brayfoil team hosted several meetings with potential investors on the sidelines of the GEAS.
Sinclair called upon all African clean-tech start-ups and energy projects to enter this year’s EIV. The initiative is open to start-ups in the early stages of rolling out clean-tech projects, as well as large-scale energy projects of between 20 and 100MW, requiring finance to get off the ground.
“If you’re solving for a cleaner, sustainable future for South Africa and Africa, we want to hear from you,” says Sinclair.
EIV is also calling for organisations looking to become strategic partners to support its commitment to giving Africa’s clean-tech start-ups and energy projects access to global investors.
Freeport Saldanha CEO, Kaashifah Beukes explains that the conceptualisation of the EIV was driven by the need to connect and capacitate clean-tech start-ups and energy projects. “The work that is being done in clean energy innovation and development in South Africa and Africa is hugely exciting. But the challenge is that investors who have an appetite for investing into these kinds of projects, often do not have sight of them. The EIV seeks to become a conduit between investment and solution.”
Davis Cook, CEO of advisory firm RIIS, says the Energy Investment Village is a unique opportunity to accelerate innovation through the development and deepening of supportive ecosystems.
“Long-term sustainability can only be achieved if we ensure a responsive and connected environment in which business and society can innovate,” says Cook. “The EIV is an excellent platform to strengthen the building blocks of collaboration that are critical for problem solving in a fast-changing world.”
The EIV has become an exciting innovation pipeline at a time of global energy crisis due to bottlenecks in international power supply, geopolitical uncertainty and a rapidly evolving energy mix.
As part of the GEAS, it supports stimulating deals and transactions across the African Energy Industry. GEAS brings together governments, national regulators and utility companies, independent power players, investors, financial institutions and service providers to drive deals and investment into energy projects, provide energy access and solutions for the future of Africa.
At EIV 2022, besides securing invaluable investor engagement, Brayfoil Technologies won a R20 000 cash prize from FNB, a year’s business membership with the Africa Scotland Business Network (ASBN) and an ASBN branding and marketing workshop.
At the EIV finals, judges adjudicate start-up pitches according to criteria such as innovativeness, sustainability and business merit.
