Creslow Energy Secures Abadali Fund Investment to Scale Lithium Battery Production

Kriban Govender, Creslow Energy Solutions' managing director

This 100% Black-owned, 50% Black Women-owned, Level 1 B-BBEE manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries based in Johannesburg, was founded in 2021 by husband-and-wife team Kriban and Reneka Govender. The company designs and assembles customised lithium batteries for OEMs across South Africa’s industrial, leisure, and mining sectors.

Creslow’s core product range focuses on traction batteries used in forklifts, material handling equipment, golf carts, and underground mining locomotives, with the latter being a first for the local market. Of particular significance is Creslow’s development, in partnership with Jewll Industries, of the world’s first explosion-proof lithium battery for coal mining operations.

Based on their achievements to date and robust growth trajectory, Creslow has secured an investment from the Abadali Fund, a Black Business Growth Fund which forms part of the Abadali Equity Equivalent Investment Programme (EEIP) - 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. This funding will enable the company to further scale its operations and vertically integrate its battery production process, improving efficiency, strengthening quality control, and enhancing cost competitiveness.

The team at Creslow Energy Solutions

It will also support the company’s expansion into the manufacturing of mining locomotive batteries and upskill more locally sourced staff, including engineering technicians, quality controllers, and sales staff.

What attracted the Abadali Fund and Edge Growth to Creslow is the company’s credible local manufacturing capability in a market long dependent on imported, fully assembled batteries. What began in a garage has since grown into a 3,146 sqm production facility, backed by a strong engineering team trusted by leading industrial OEMs - a story of South African entrepreneurship at its best.

“What drew us to Creslow is their manufacturing capability, IP, and a founding team that has consistently found new markets before anyone else did” says Philani Mzila, Investment Principal: Abadali Fund, Edge Growth Ventures. “Kriban and Reneka Govender have built a South African manufacturer competing on quality, turnaround time, and product innovation with a patent-pending mining product and stellar revenue growth to show for it. The Abadali Fund exists to back exactly this kind of business, and we are excited to be part of what comes next”.

Importantly, this investment from the Abadali Fund also supports South Africa’s green economy transition: Creslow’s lithium-ion batteries accelerate the retirement of lead-acid alternatives across industrial and mining operations, reducing emissions and improving workplace safety in some of the country’s most demanding environments.

Adding to the impact of this investment will be the continuation of Creslow’s student apprenticeship programme, with industry partners FezaMax & SOL-TEC. This programme provides 12-18 month paid practical placements to approximately 40 young engineers.

Founded in 2021, the Abadali Fund is designed to extend debt financing to eligible, majority black-owned and controlled enterprises primarily operating in the industrial, green and township economy sectors of South Africa. The focus is on providing medium- and long-term funding to such eligible businesses that may not have access to traditional commercial finance. The Abadali Fund currently has over R300 million under management.

Creslow Energy Solutions, which has a full-time staff complement of 25, and is ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 accredited, represents a strong combination of industrial capability, innovation, and scalable growth potential within South Africa’s green economy transition. It offers OEM clients faster turnaround times, strong after-sales support, and lower lifecycle costs compared to imported alternatives. Since it began, the company’s income has increased by 200%+ on an average yearly growth basis and currently serves more than 40 active clients.

“At Creslow Energy Solutions, we have always focused on pushing the frontier of new markets through the adoption of energy-efficient lithium battery technology across emerging industries. We have recently concluded a highly successful strategic trip to China, where we were invited to explore new opportunities within the agricultural equipment sector,” says Kriban Govender. “As a result, Creslow lithium battery technology has now been selected for integration into next-generation agricultural equipment, with the first products expected to launch within the next few months. This represents another important milestone in our strategy to expand South African-developed lithium technology into global industrial applications, with further exciting developments to follow.”

For more information, go to https://www.energysolution.co.za and https://edgegrowth.com/fund-management.