Commercial and township property owners in South Africa are not just managing one infrastructure challenge. They are managing four at once: unreliable grid supply, intermittent municipal water, inconsistent waste collection, and rising security costs. Each is typically contracted separately, monitored separately, and paid for separately.
Bolide Group (“Bolide”) was founded in 2024 to consolidate that fragmentation into a single managed utilities service. The platform combines solar generation and battery storage, water infrastructure, waste management and AI-enabled security under one operator, one contract and one monitoring layer – with financing, installation and ongoing management included. Customers move from procuring and maintaining four sets of infrastructure to purchasing a serviced utility outcome.
Bolide is a 100% Black-owned, multi-utility infrastructure platform founded by Khudusela Pitje, who brings over 25 years’ experience in building and scaling utility and technology businesses. South Africa’s infrastructure constraints are well documented on the electricity side, but the same commercial properties face parallel pressure on water and waste. Bolide’s model addresses the barrier that keeps smaller commercial operators out of the market: not the technology, but the upfront capital cost, the technical expertise required to specify and maintain multiple systems, and the regulatory uncertainty around each. By bundling financing, installation and management, the platform lowers grid dependency and makes utility costs more predictable for businesses that have historically had limited access to reliable infrastructure services.
More than 80% of the company’s project sites are in township or peri-urban areas, directly aligned with the Abadali Fund’s green economy and township/rural mandate. Moreover, the company’s approach improves operational resilience and ESG performance for businesses that have historically had limited access to affordable, reliable infrastructure solutions.
This innovative business has secured funding from the Abadali Fund, a Black Business Growth Fund which forms part of the Abadali Equity Equivalent Investment Programme (EEIP). This is a South African economic inclusion initiative by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) in partnership with J.P. Morgan, and managed by Edge Growth Ventures.
“The Bolide Group represents a high-impact, founder-led business the Abadali Fund was established to support. The team has built a genuinely differentiated platform, combining solar energy, water, waste, and AI security into an integrated offering that directly addresses the infrastructure deficit in South Africa’s township and peri-urban commercial markets. This investment also delivers real, lasting employment and economic value for communities in South Africa that need it most,” says Hitesh Dullabh, Deal Lead at Edge Growth.
As a small business development specialist and fund partner, Edge Growth not only helps to identify and support qualifying businesses for the Abadali Fund, but also delivers hands-on business development support and mentorship to help these businesses to scale.
“The impact and disruption of traditional utilities sectors will not come from large systems but from smart, decentralised platforms similar to Bolide. We are humbled by the support from the Abadali Fund and Edge Growth Ventures and hope to play a meaningful role in helping businesses spend less in the green economy,” says Khudusela Pitje, Founder and Chairperson of the Bolide Group.
This investment by the Abadali Fund is expected to create meaningful, multi-layered green economy and social impact, supporting the creation of both direct and indirect jobs, specifically in the energy, water, and waste value chains.
