South African startups Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

30Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

Young founders & investors flock to Joburg’s first Founder’s Den event, hosted by local digital innovation agency Specno

The “Founder’s Den” event, which took place at the Old Mutual headquarters in Sandton on Thursday 25 July, is responsible for successfully hosting over 150 business leaders, investors, and founders from a curated list of key eco-system players from South Africa’s startup community in Johannesburg last week. The gathering, which usually takes place in Cape Town, aims to shape the future of business in South Africa by bringing together a number of visionary entrepreneurs, tech industry leaders, and investors. It has been hosted on an annual and bi-annual basis by Specno since 2021, and its launch in Johannesburg this year was made possible by Old Mutual’s innovative partnerships and ventures hub, Next176. The event was organised with the aim of building a supportive ecosystem for startups ...

Durban to Dublin — Irish Tech Challenge South Africa 2023 Winners to Showcase SDG Innovations in Ireland

13Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

Durban to Dublin — Irish Tech Challenge South Africa 2023 Winners to Showcase SDG Innovations in Ireland

The Irish Tech Challenge South Africa is excited to announce that the 2023 winning cohort is set to travel to Ireland for a 10-day curated immersion and networking programme with access to top industry leaders and potential for further funding. The Irish Tech Challenge is a prestigious competition that seeks to unearth high-impact South African start-ups that have developed innovative, SDG-aligned solutions. The winning five start-ups emerged from 266 applications and were unveiled on 21 November 2023. From AgriTech to BioTech to HealthTech, their innovations demonstrate the depth and diversity of talent in the South African tech landscape. The five winning start-ups: Thato Schermer — Founder, Zoie Health (HealthTech) Neo Hutiri — Founder, PeleBox (HealthTech) Vuyo Pakad...

28Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, South Africa News, Startups

SA Innovation Summit 2023: Igniting Africa’s Innovation Frontier Over 3000 innovators are expected to gather in Cape Town on 27 – 28th of September

Africa's tech landscape is ripe with opportunities for local startups, presenting the potential for tremendous growth and innovation. As AI, blockchain, renewable energy, and other cutting-edge advancements continue to shape the continent's future, African entrepreneurs find themselves at the forefront of groundbreaking solutions. To seize these opportunities and expand their impact, startups seek a platform that connects them with problem solvers, mentors, and stakeholders who can bolster their growth. In the heart of this thriving tech ecosystem, the renowned SA Innovation Summit celebrates its 16th edition, emerging as a vital catalyst for progress. From the 26th to the 29th of September 2023, thousands of visionaries, disruptors, and thought leaders will converge in Cape Town. The fou...

From failing at university to scaling SA’s top venture builder in four years – these two young entrepreneurs are on a mission to help 1-million people build good tech

13Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

From failing at university to scaling SA’s top venture builder in four years – these two young entrepreneurs are on a mission to help 1-million people build good tech

One of the most hotly debated topics in African innovation is South Africa’s claim to be the “Tech Capital” of the continent. Home to more than 490 startups and a combined US$1-billion (or R17.6-billion) in funding[1], South Africa is an undisputed leader on the continent. But in 2023, that reputation is slipping, as Nigeria takes the title of ‘Best Funded’ (US$2-billion) and as Egypt’s pool of startups crosses the 560-mark. Regardless of South Africa’s status, startups play an important role in driving inclusive and sustainable development. They create jobs, stimulate new skills, attract investment, and most importantly, foster new ideas with the potential to make life better for both people and the planet. But all of this is at risk if startups are not given the support they need to bui...

27Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

CURBON, a SA startup, is taking a bold offset and uplift approach to solving climate change

Curbon makes it easy to make a difference, both from a climate action and community empowerment perspective, says Steffen Burrows, CURBON co-founder and director. According to billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, it is unrealistic to expect to solve climate change by asking people to live greener lifestyles. Telling people to stop eating meat, drive less, and buy smaller houses is unlikely to be effective, at least not yet. Changing human desires is simply too difficult, and we should look instead to other viable solutions that seek to reduce emissions without demanding people rethink their consumption habits entirely. Offsetting change Gates, who has invested hundreds of millions in climate initiatives through his foundations, noted last year that so-called Green Premiums c...

New carbon-neutral online shopping service launches in South Africa

15Sep

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South Africa News, Startups

New carbon-neutral online shopping service launches in South Africa

With a goal to curb carbon emissions, South African startup Curbon, will make carbon-neutral online shopping possible through the launch of the country’s very first plugin created to help fight climate change. Curbon’s unique offering gives shoppers the opportunity to take direct, meaningful climate action with every online purchase. Using data from the world’s leading climate science institutions, the startup’s flagship product estimates the emissions of customers’ carts at checkout and empowers shoppers to neutralise the carbon footprint of their purchases on e-commerce stores in real-time. Dedicated to minimising the environmental impact of the entire e-commerce value chain, Curbon’s API uses the process of carbon offsetting to reduce, and ultimately neutralise, the carbon equivalen...

Flow wins Best Late-Stage Startup at AfricArena Awards

1Apr

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South Africa News, Startups

Flow wins Best Late-Stage Startup at AfricArena Awards

South African proptech leader Flow has won the Best Late-Stage Startup award at the 2022 AfricArena Summit, held in Johannesburg last week. The summit was a side event to the South African President Investment Conference and supported by the Technology Innovation Agency and VC firm Edge Growth. Over 140 in-person attendees and more than 1 000 virtual viewers joined more than 60 high-level investors at the summit as it sought out Africa's best disruptors, across a variety of industries. The event saw 21 startups from across Southern Africa come together to learn, network, and showcase their innovative Ideas to the AfricArena ecosystem of investors, incubators and accelerators. “It’s at events like AfricArena that you get to lift your head up from the entrepreneurial trenches and get the ...

23Sep

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South Africa News, Startups

Startup Genome, City of Cape Town, WESGRO and Silicon Cape Publish 2021 Global Startup Ecosystem Report

Cape Town is featured in the world’s preeminent report on advancing startup ecosystems - ranking as the #1 African Ecosystem in Knowledge The 2021 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) by Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network was launched today at London Tech Week. The GSER is the world’s most comprehensive and widely read research on startups with 280 entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems and 3 million startups analyzed. The Report includes a ranking of the leading 140 ecosystems in the world, breakdowns by continent with regional insights, and founder-focused articles from thought leaders and experts around the world. City of Cape Town, WESGRO and Silicon Cape worked closely with Startup Genome to highlight Cape Town’s strengths against ecosystems globally. Cape To...

17Sep

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South Africa News, Startups

SA’s Proposed Startup Act Soon to be Revealed

On Thursday, 16 September 2021, startup ecosystem stakeholders will be unveiling the latest findings and plans towards the development of a proposed South African Startup Act – a call to the President to unleash the growth and innovation inherent in the country’s entrepreneurs and youth. These findings, gathered over the past six months via desktop research, focus groups and research contributed by the World Bank (one of the main sponsors of the research), provide a holistic overview of the problems affecting the ability of startups to establish, grow and scale in South Africa. The findings, which have been collated into a position paper, suggest that innovation-driven start-ups with a turnover of less than R100 million be exempted from the limitations of existing policies and the red-tap...

SA Startup – Omnisient – Wins Global Award

29Jul

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South Africa News, Startups

SA Startup – Omnisient – Wins Global Award

Omnisient is a leading technology provider of a secure data collaboration platform that empowers organisations to derive deep insights from their data. The company helps organisations unlock growth opportunities and new audience segments without compromising the privacy of their customers. Omnisient’s recent recognition by the World Marketing Congress proves yet again that the African continent is producing some astonishing scale-ups and entrepreneurs, along with innovative solutions to complex challenges. On 15 July, Omnisient was awarded the prestigious South African Best Brands citation at the CMO Asia Brand Leadership Awards 2021. Launched in 2010, the initiative’s intention is to identify and celebrate outstanding brand building and marketing by organisations and recognise prof...