South African electric vehicle startup Zimi has closed a R50 million ($2.6 million) fundraising round led by the Development Bank of Southern Africa, injecting critical capital into a company racing to deploy 2,000 commercial electric vehicles and 200 charging stations across the country within the next 18 months.
The round, which also drew participation from Keyo Ventures and angel investors, positions Zimi at the centre of a widening push to electrify South Africa’s logistics and commercial fleet industry at a moment when the country’s broader EV market remains embryonic.
Fully electric passenger vehicles accounted for just 0.17% of the 596,818 new vehicles sold in South Africa in 2025, even as interest in EVs surged, online marketplace AutoTrader reported a 220% jump in EV searches between March 2025 and March 2026.
“We are thrilled to announce that we have officially closed our latest fundraising round,” said Michael Maas, CEO and co-founder of Zimi. “This capital will directly accelerate our mission to expand EV fleets across the country, driving sustainable transport forward when it matters most.”
Founded in 2021 by Maas and co-founder Stefan Nel, Zimi operates an integrated EV-as-a-service platform that bundles electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, solar energy systems, and energy management tools into a single commercial offering for fleet operators, converting unpredictable capital expenditure into fixed, manageable operating costs.
The company targets reductions of up to 90% in energy costs per kilometre for fleet clients, a proposition with direct commercial appeal in a country where diesel prices and grid instability have hammered logistics margins. Its early clients include Bakers Logistics, one of South Africa’s largest distribution operators.
The strategic logic is clear. South Africa’s commercial fleet sector consumes diesel at industrial scale, generates significant carbon emissions and operates under mounting pressure from both global supply chain decarbonisation mandates and domestic energy cost volatility. Zimi’s bundled model targets this pressure point directly, offering fleet operators a managed transition to electric mobility without the capital shock of purchasing vehicles and infrastructure outright.
DBSA, as lead investor, brings more than capital. The bank has a mandate to drive infrastructure investment across the continent and has been deliberately building positions in the domestic EV infrastructure ecosystem. Its investment in Zimi follows an earlier stake in Zero Carbon Charge, signalling a strategy of backing the charging and fleet infrastructure layer of South Africa’s EV transition rather than the vehicles themselves.
“The DBSA is committed to supporting infrastructure investment that advances sustainable development and economic resilience across South Africa,” said Phindile Masangane, DBSA Group Executive for Programmes and Preparation. “Our investment in Zimi reflects the growing importance of electric mobility infrastructure in enabling lower-carbon transport systems and supporting innovation within the logistics sector.”
Keyo Ventures, a co-investor in the round, backed Zimi from its earliest days. “Thank you to the team at Keyo Ventures, Khomotšo Grace L. and Clayton Wiggill for supporting us from day one, and for championing Zimi along the way,” Maas said.
The funding builds on an earlier technology milestone. In April 2025, Zimi secured R6 million ($320,000) in grant funding from the EEP Africa Trust Fund, selected from over 530 applicants to pilot vehicle-to-grid technology that enables idle electric fleet vehicles to feed power back into the grid or commercial facilities.
In a country that has endured years of rolling blackouts and grid instability, the ability to turn parked logistics fleets into distributed energy assets carries implications well beyond transport.
The wider continental context gives the Zimi story its weight.
Africa’s electric vehicle market was valued at $17.58 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $42.34 billion by 2034. South Africa, despite its small consumer EV base, is the continent’s most advanced automotive manufacturing economy and its most developed logistics market, making commercial fleet electrification the most commercially viable near-term entry point for EV scale.
Globally, electric vehicle sales are expected to hit 23 million units in 2026, equivalent to 28% of total new car sales worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency. South Africa is not there yet.
Zimi is betting that fleets, not consumers, are how it gets closer.
