When Josh Romisher spent six years building renewable energy companies across East Africa, he witnessed firsthand what many African climate-tech entrepreneurs face: they raise early capital, prove their business model, but then hit a wall. Follow-on funding dries up. Operators and strategic support vanish. The path to a meaningful exit becomes unclear. This gap in the investment ecosystem inspired him to launch something different. Last month, Holocene announced the final close of Holocene Ventures Fund I, a $3 million investment vehicle specifically engineered to solve Africa’s climate-tech exit problem at scale.
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The fund’s approach stands apart from traditional venture capital. Rather than simply writing checks and moving on, Holocene combines modest cash investments of $50,000 to $250,000 with $50,000 to $100,000 worth of embedded operational support for at least twelve months. This matters enormously in climate tech, where capital-intensive businesses require more than just funding to thrive. Portfolio founders get access to specialists in revenue growth, fundraising, grant writing, go-to-market strategy, and asset financing. When ScootHero needed help scaling its electric mobility network, Holocene brought in operators. When the company hit a funding ceiling, the team unlocked grant capital and asset finance partnerships. This hands-on model reflects what African founders consistently tell investors they actually need: capital paired with credible operational partnership.
The early results validate the thesis. In just eighteen months of deployment, Holocene backed ten companies across circular economy, clean energy, and electric mobility. The portfolio has already created more than 500 jobs. More critically for the exit problem, every dollar Holocene invested attracted eight dollars of follow-on capital, and the fund achieved a 2x markup on deployed capital. This flywheel effect matters because it signals to larger institutional investors that African climate-tech startups can deliver both climate impact and financial returns. Portfolio companies include FARO, a circular economy platform that has scaled to approximately $15 million in trailing revenue and recently closed a Series A round; ScootHero, which has deployed over 500 electric motorbikes and 50 battery-swap stations across South Africa; and Yongeza, an e-mobility infrastructure company operating in Uganda.
Holocene’s thesis also reflects demographic and economic realities. Africa will account for 25 percent of global population by 2050, yet holds 65 percent of the world’s arable land and 50 percent of renewable energy potential. The continent will urbanize and consume at scale during the coming decades. Romisher frames this as either an impending climate catastrophe or a massive innovation opportunity. Holocene chose the latter. With fundraising now complete, the fund moves into its value-creation phase: helping portfolio companies scale operations, attract larger funding rounds, and move toward successful exits. For African climate-tech entrepreneurs who have struggled to find capital plus strategic support, Holocene’s model suggests what scaled climate investing in Africa might actually look like.
