Greenshare was selected as the winner of the Energy Investment Village at the Green Energy Africa Summit (GEAS) 2023, held in Cape Town, South Africa.
Greenshare specializes in a decentralised energy management system, enabling communities to generate, store, and share renewable energy. The company says it offers unique long-term energy efficiency solutions for clients while guaranteeing optimum system performance and significant energy cost savings.
“It’s such an honour to be chosen as the winner of the Energy Investment Village at the Green Energy Africa Summit,” said Greenshare founder and CEO Desmond Williams. “The workshopping programme and the pitch experience has helped to refine my process. Besides the great prizes, I am now well equipped to secure further funding for the future of our business.”
The Energy Investment Village (EIV) is GEAS’s deal-pitching event for African clean-tech starts ups and energy projects, held in partnership with Saldanha Bay Innovation Campus, RIIS, Anza Capital, Africa Scotland, JSE, Oceanhub-Africa, Savant, Firecracker, Sasol and Chieta.
Johannesburg-based business Greenshare was selected as the winner following a fast-paced pitching event at GEAS, where the 10 finalists had five minutes each to present their business ideas, and then faced questions from the judges.
The finalists were selected based on their initiatives, which aim to revolutionise the energy landscape and promote sustainable development in Africa.
They included:
Therm: Pioneers in sustainable heating solutions, utilising innovative technologies to support efficient energy consumption.
AET Africa: An energy-efficiency startup producing an innovative product called the Hotspot Geyser.
Ceneco Green Power: Experts in developing and operating environmentally friendly power plants in the farming sector,.
Energy Cubes: Innovators in energy storage, offering scalable solutions for optimizing power through the reuse of existing mine shafts.
Power stove: Clean cooking innovators, providing efficient and clean-burning stoves for households and communities.
RG Revive Earth: Leaders in waste-to-energy conversion, turning organic waste into renewable resources while mitigating environmental impact.
ThinkBikes: Innovators in sustainable urban transportation, designing and manufacturing electric bicycles for eco-conscious commuters.
FLX EV: An electric mobility startup, bringing the first electric minibus and charging solution to South Africa.
Impact-free Water: Experts in wave-energy conversion technology.
“We are proud to again partner with the EIV, and we congratulate Greenshare on their win,” said Kaashifah Beukes, CEO of Saldanha Bay Innovation Campus. “Their vision is perfectly in line with our own vision of using natural and engineered assets to tackle industry challenges, to create positive social impact. We wish them well on the next stage of their startup journey.”
In showcasing their start-up, Greenshare gained exposure and industry networking opportunities at GEAS, a global platform for deals and transactions across the African Energy Industry.
“This has been a hugely successful EIV,” said Belinda Williams, Head of Southern Africa for GEAS. “The event is an important platform that allows entrepreneurs to leverage networks and gain the skills they need to take their businesses to the next level.”
The EIV offered a range of prizes including a Sasol R100 000 cash grant and supplier development programme, up to R5-million in VC funding from Anza, a JSE enterprise acceleration programme, a build-acceleration programme by Savant, membership to an international ASBN network worth R9 000, a workshop worth R25 000 from Firecracker and free access to the 2024 Ocean Innovation Africa conference and training to the value of R140 000 from Chieta.
