Confirming that local innovation, when properly supported, can scale rapidly and sustainably, solar fintech company, Wetility, is emerging as one of South Africa’s most dynamic renewable energy companies. Backed in its early stages by the MultiChoice Innovation Fund (MIF), Wetility has fully repaid its loan well ahead of schedule, a notable achievement in the South African start-up landscape.
Wetility founders Ikenna Oguguo and Vincent Maposa.
This success story underscores the MIF’s mission to empower black-owned businesses through early-stage, strategic support that enables real economic participation. Wetility describes itself as a solar subscription service provider: it offers bundled, customisable solar packages and fixed monthly subscriptions that help residential and commercial customers go partially or fully off-grid. With early-stage venture debt funding from the MIF – which is dedicated to unlocking high-potential South African entrepreneurial enterprise – Wetility was able to transform its vision of sustainable energy independence for everyone into a viable proof of concept.
“That initial proof of concept laid the foundation for Wetility’s R930-million Series A raise in 2023,” says Ikenna Oguguo, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Wetility. “We secured funding from a consortium, including Metier Sustainable Capital II, Sanlam, and the Industrial Development Corporation.”
This calibre of backing signals the level of investor confidence in Wetility’s business model and the leadership behind it. As well as marking a major financial milestone – it demonstrates how inclusive development finance can activate South Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Wetility offers five specialised product suites, each designed for a specific market segment. The PACE suite, its flagship residential product, was launched in 2021. Between 2023 and 2024, the company released LIFT for businesses, RISE for multi-unit complexes, and LUXE for informal retail stores like spaza shops.
To drive solar adoption and expand energy access, Wetility has reimagined solar financing for greater inclusion. All Wetility systems are offered via flexible monthly subscriptions, covering insurance, maintenance, and 24/7 support. Within informal markets, the LUXE product suite is available through a daily payment model, with credit extended in collaboration with a Point-of-Sale partner to overcome traditional banking barriers. Earlier this year, Wetility further expanded solar access through FLARE, a new financing solution tailored to empower solar installers to deliver larger scale projects of up to 500 kW, enough to power sizable business operations or hundreds of homes.
Pursuing innovative climate tech excellence, Wetility also recently launched AI Mode, a smart technology feature that boosts electricity savings from an average of up to 65% to as much as 90%. AI Mode uses real-time and historical usage data, as well as weather data, to automate battery charging and discharging, significantly improving solar efficiency and backup readiness. Despite its advanced functionality, AI Mode is user-friendly and easily accessible via the Wetility App, which allows customers to monitor and manage their solar performance through a single platform.
“We built AI Mode so our customers no longer have to choose between backup power and savings,” said Oguguo. “Operating quietly in the background, it makes real-time energy decisions faster and more accurately than any human could. The result is that families and businesses enjoy reliable power and at the same time unlock greater energy savings –helping close the gap between energy security and economic opportunity.”
Since its launch in 2012, the MultiChoice Innovation Fund has supported a diverse range of innovative ventures across sectors including FinTech, HealthTech, EduTech, Broadcast Technology, and Emerging Digital Media, helping to create over 1 000 jobs and empowering businesses where 60% are black women owned.
“The success of Wetility reflects exactly what the MultiChoice Innovation Fund was built for,” said Litlhare Moteetee-Murendo, Head of Corporate Affairs at MultiChoice. “We are proud to have supported them from early-stage ideation to investor-readiness and beyond. As a ‘graduate’ of the Fund, Wetility continues to build a highly successful business in the energy and technology industries. We will continue to watch and cheer them on as they grow from strength to strength.”
The MultiChoice Innovation Fund combines financial backing, business support, supply chain access, and mentorship – a model that has proven effective in enabling entrepreneurs to progress from conceptualisation to scale-up. It prioritises black-, women-, and youth-owned enterprises, aiming to drive real transformation in high-growth sectors critical to South Africa’s future economy.
As Wetility expands its national footprint and increases energy access for thousands of South Africans, it also demonstrates what is possible when empowerment supports innovation.
For more information visit: www.wetility.energy/