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🔋 Wetility Secures $27.8m to Supercharge Solar Access in South Africa

🔋 Wetility Secures $27.8m to Supercharge Solar Access in South Africa

Plus: 🏆 Zeeh Africa wins at the VivaTech 2025

Innovation Village
June 20, 2025

Today’s Menu ☕️

🔋 Wetility Secures $27.8m to Supercharge Solar Access in South Africa
🏆 Zeeh Africa wins two awards at the VivaTech 2025
📱Chpter Expands Social Commerce Reach with Flutterwave Partnership
📱Wave Enters Cameroon with CBC to Disrupt Mobile Payments
📡 Europe Backs Eutelsat with €1.35 Billion to Rival Elon Musk’s Starlink
📱iPhone 16e vs. Infinix GT 20 Pro: ₦1.2M or ₦500k—Which One Wins on Value?

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🔋 CLEAN ENERGY

Wetility Secures $27.8m to Supercharge Solar Access in South Africa

South African solar startup Wetility has raised R500 million (~$27.8 million) in structured financing from investment firm Jaltech, marking a major milestone in the country’s push toward decentralized, clean energy. The funding will accelerate the rollout of solar and battery systems to thousands of homes and businesses, adding over 16 megawatts of capacity and helping avoid 250,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions.

Wetility’s unique subscription model eliminates the need for high upfront costs by bundling solar hardware, storage, and maintenance into a single monthly payment—making clean energy more accessible to small businesses and middle-income households. Backed by Jaltech, a fund manager with R2 billion in assets, the company is scaling rapidly to meet growing demand amid South Africa’s ongoing power crisis.

With a goal to reach one million users, Wetility is not just delivering electricity—it’s offering energy independence, one rooftop at a time..…...…continue reading

🏆 STARTUPS

Zeeh Africa wins two awards at the VivaTech 2025

Zeeh Africa, the only African startup among 30 global finalists of the VivaTech 2025 competition, has emerged winner of two awards – the Fintech/eCommerce category at the 2025 AfricaTech Awards, hosted by VivaTech in partnership with Deloitte and supported by Edouard Mendy and the Impact 2035 Award by OVHcloud, recognizing startups driving sustainable digital growth.

Founded in 2022, Zeeh Africa emerged as a visionary fintech startup focused on democratizing financial services through open banking infrastructure. Headquartered in Ibadan, Nigeria, with an operational footprint extending to Lagos and expansion plans beyond Africa, the company serves as a bridge between financial institutions and real-time customer data......……continue reading

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📱 SOCIAL COMMERCE

Chpter Expands Social Commerce Reach with Flutterwave Partnership

Chpter, the Kenyan startup revolutionizing social commerce, has partnered with Flutterwave to expand its services into 11 new African markets, including Ghana, Egypt, Senegal, and Tanzania. Through this strategic collaboration, merchants can now sell and accept payments directly via WhatsApp and Instagram, using mobile money, cards, or bank transfers—all processed seamlessly by Flutterwave.

This expansion brings Chpter’s presence to 14 countries and reflects its AI-first approach, empowering businesses to automate sales, customer service, and marketing through chat. The launch of Chpter’s WhatsApp API suite, Pluto, and AI chatbot features allows merchants to build end-to-end customer journeys while boosting conversions—even when offline.

With up to 60% of traffic now coming from social platforms, and rapid growth in merchant onboarding, this partnership is poised to reshape digital commerce across Africa by combining localized payments with conversational engagement.

Don’t miss the 15% launch discount using code FLW15 (ends June 2025).........…continue reading

📱MOBILE PAYMENTS

Wave Enters Cameroon with CBC to Disrupt Mobile Payments

U.S. fintech startup Wave has officially launched in Cameroon, entering the region’s booming digital payments market through a strategic partnership with Commercial Bank Cameroon (CBC). Approved by the Central African Banking Commission (Cobac), the new Wave-powered service allows CBC customers to conduct peer-to-peer transfers, pay bills, receive remittances, and move funds between bank accounts and mobile wallets.

Cameroon, which leads Central Africa in mobile money activity—handling 71% of regional transactions—offers a lucrative but competitive market. Dominated by Orange Money and MTN MoMo, the country has over 10 million active mobile money accounts, making Wave’s entry both ambitious and high-stakes.

What sets Wave apart is its bank-backed trust model, lower fees, and streamlined user experience. With mobile money now contributing up to 8% of Cameroon’s GDP, Wave is betting on convenience, cost-effectiveness, and compliance to carve out space in a saturated ecosystem. Its launch could reshape how Cameroonians send, spend, and save....…continue reading

📡 SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY

Europe Backs Eutelsat with €1.35 Billion to Rival Elon Musk’s Starlink

On June 19, 2025, France and key investors committed €1.35 billion to strengthen Eutelsat as Europe’s challenger to Elon Musk’s Starlink. The capital injection—led by the French government with €717 million—will reduce Eutelsat’s debt, expand its low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite capacity, and accelerate deployment of the EU-backed IRIS² constellation, aimed at ensuring secure, sovereign connectivity across the continent.

The funding supports Eutelsat’s transformation following its 2023 merger with OneWeb, which gave it control of the world’s second-largest LEO fleet. This move positions Eutelsat to compete globally in satellite broadband while supporting defense and government communications through a new 10-year deal with OneWeb.

Split between reserved share issuance and a broader rights issue, the funds will fuel network growth, satellite upgrades, and revenue expansion—projected to reach up to €1.7 billion by 2029. It’s a bold bet, but one that could redefine Europe’s role in space-based internet infrastructure.....…continue reading