A South African climate startup, Hohm Energy faces financial struggles despite raising about $12M in two years. Hohm is focused on helping the transition to solar for individuals and businesses and recently halted operations due to financial difficulties including challenges in servicing existing debts.
According to Franc Gray, CEO of Hohm’s parent company, Spark Energy Services, the startup is working with legal counsel to get a better understanding of a way forward. “Hohm is currently not trading, ”he added.
In the face of these struggles, the startup has reportedly laid off an unspecified number of employees and initiated a business rescue process, designed to assist financially challenged firms to get help.
Per TechCabal, the CEO Tim Ohlsen departed from the company last week. Following his departure, Managing Director Ryan Steytler assumed leadership and decided to place the business into rescue proceedings. However, Gray contends that Steytler made this decision unilaterally and contrary to shareholder advice.
In February 2024, Hohm Energy announced it secured $8 million in seed funding to boost the adoption of rooftop solar in South Africa. It outlined plans to use the funding to accelerate work on its “new cutting-edge climate fintech strategy,” aimed at promoting technological advancement, product innovation, and enhancing the skills of solar installers.
Ohlsen disclosed in a recent interview that in 2022, the company raised a pre-seed round of $800 000. It also secured a seed round of $3.7 million, culminating with a $4.25 million investment at the end of 2023.
Although the energy platform guaranteed that the funding would enhance the reliability, affordability, and accessibility of rooftop solar, thereby advancing its widespread adoption in the region and marking a major milestone for South Africa’s tech and solar sectors, the current financial difficulties appear to have temporarily halted the development.
History of the startup
Founded in 2021 by Tim Ohlsen and Emir Gluhbegovic, Hohm Energy offers homeowners and businesses in South Africa the opportunity to adopt solar solutions by providing them with accredited solar installers, product suppliers, and embedded solar financing.
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The startup operates its proprietary software platform and marketplace, which connects every stakeholder in the value chain. It allows solar installers to design, manage, finance, and procure solar projects and enable customers to digitally assess their properties’ solar energy requirements and obtain credit financing for rooftop solar installation.
