South African-founded maxwell+spark Closes $15M Series B Round with Chevron Technology Ventures, Idemitsu, and Klima

South African green-tech pioneer maxwell+spark raises $15M Series B led by Klima, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Idemitsu to expand its unified lithium-ion battery ecosystem. The funding accelerates global electrification across forklifts, transport refrigeration, and backup power — replacing diesel and lead-acid systems with cleaner, data-driven solutions.

Cerebrium Raises $8.5M Led by Gradient to Scale the Leading High-Performance Serverless AI Platform

Cerebrium, a serverless AI infrastructure platform founded in Cape Town, has raised $8.5 million in a seed funding round led by Gradient, Google’s AI venture fund. The platform enables teams to build and scale multimodal AI applications without traditional complexity or cost. This funding will support Cerebrium’s growth and expansion, with the aim of meeting increasing demand in enterprise AI. Backed by Y Combinator and other investors, Cerebrium is already powering companies like Tavus and Deepgram, providing high-performance solutions for real-time voice, video, and data analytics applications.

Kofa Closes $8.1 Million Pre-Series A Round to Expand Energy Access in Urban Africa

Kofa, an innovative technology-driven energy company, has successfully closed an $8.1 million pre-Series A funding round to expand its AI-powered battery-swapping network in urban Africa. The investment will accelerate the company’s clean energy solutions, starting in Ghana and Kenya, and help optimize the distribution of batteries for motorcycles, households, and businesses. With the backing of prominent investors like E3 Capital, Injaro Investment Advisors, and the Shell Foundation, Kofa is on track to scale its network and drive sustainable energy adoption across the continent.