Hi there,

Fast enough? Chinese carmaker BYD has announced a new EV model with a battery-charge time of just 5 minutes. That’s almost 3X as fast as Tesla Superchargers and about the same as filling up on diesel/petrol. Plus: BYD says it has its sights on releasing this in SA and Brazil specifically. 🏎️💨

In this Open Letter:

• Sizing opportunities: Getting big buying power for the little guys.

• Paying off takeout, Google’s Mzansi grads & Africa’s first AI factory.

• Coming in hot: 3 Trends, tools and tips when building your startup.

• Who knew this SA restaurant profit booster? The results are in.

• Lonely building your startup? Join The Open Collab and get support.

First time reading? Join 22,553 South African professionals and sign up.

TRENDING NOW

Boosting SA's Small Builder Buying Power

In today’s Tuesday Deep Dive, we examine the challenges of contractors and independents up against megacorps in the built industry, showcasing a local startup that’s solving for a way to level the playing field and give the little guys a shot…

Trying to get a good deal on building supplies is hard…

Just ask the 55’000+ contractors on the Construction Industry Development Board’s Register of Contractors, and nearly 2’800 small independent hardware stores helping build South Africa.

(Not to mention the informal trader with a shelf or two of those critical basic building necessities…)

Sure hardware store chains and massive construction companies have big budgets and sweet, sweet bulk buying power to negotiate with, but what about the little guy doing smaller, ad hoc jobs, or the small independent hardware store that doesn't have the pipeline (or shelf space) for 40’000 boxes of tiles? 

But it leaves them scrambling…

1. They can't compete, so have to accept smaller margins, or run the risk of losing the deal entirely.

2. Shopping around at various suppliers for the best price is one solution, but quickly gets untenable when you have to source loads of items.

Go the distance…

Another challenge with the larger, hardware chains is their footprint is typically heavily concentrated in (and around) SA’s major metros and cities.

Just take a look at Builders’ stores, or even Talisman Tool Hire’s more than 100 stores. 70% of them are in Gauteng and the Western Cape, leaving only a handful in each of SA’s other provinces and neighbouring countries. (No wonder they dominate: 22% of all hardware stores in SA…)

This does mean you have large swathes of underserved areas in SA, but this means contractors need to travel large distances frequently to get their building supplies.

And independent hardware stores cannot get their stock delivered from manufacturers unless they place an order of a specific size. 

Big buying power for the little guy…

Sellers Plug is a local startup that simplifies the building supply procurement process for contractors and independent hardware stores, using tech to streamline and help them harness the bulk buying power.

It all started during Covid, when Sellers Plug spotted an opportunity to consolidate orders from multiple contractors, get it from a larger supplier (usually near a big city/major metro), and bring it to a centralised warehouse to distribute.  

It wasn’t long before they realised they could secure better prices with bulk orders, passing those savings onto the lil guy (who then operates with meatier margins).

A neat gig with a lot of potential: They naturally help independents deal with multiple large suppliers and even use local transporters to deliver the supplies from their warehouse directly to the site.

Great, now make it bigger…

Sellers Plug is now also working with small, emerging manufacturers to get their products onto their platform, which helps grow the industry from the other angle too – great for manufacturer expansion without having to invest in infrastructure like trucks and warehouses. 

They’re currently building an AI inventory system to help their partners get a handle on which product line sells best in which province. And it will eventually provide a host of product insights, including packaging.

With platforms like Sellers Plug connecting contractors, independent hardware stores, local transporters and emerging manufacturers all in the name of helping the small guy win, you know we’re watching this space…

IN SHORT

Good to keep the conversation going…

💎 Polishing a Jem. Our friends, local HR Tech platform Jem HR have just announced (like at midnight last night) their R60m Pre-Series A funding round led by Old Mutual subsidiary Next176 (also friends of ours). The funding will help the WhatsApp-based HR & employee benefits platform expand beyond SA, grow the team, and enhance its platform with new products. Big congrats Caroline, Simon & the Jem HR team.

🌿 Branching Out. FNB’s venture capital arm, The FNB Vumela Enterprise Development Fund, and Edge Growth has just invested R15 million into local AI startup Trade Shield, a trade credit risk assessment platform that uses advanced data analytics, predictive modelling, and AI. Very nice…

🌍 On the Map. Cassava Technologies is looking to establish Africa’s first AI factory with its plans for a state-of-the-art data centre that’s powered by NVIDIA’s GPU-based supercomputers to accelerate AI model training, fine-tuning, and advanced inference capabilities. Taking African AI next-level…

🎓 Google Grads. SA’s first cohort of grads from Google’s Startups Accelerator: South Africa programme has been announced. The founders have completed the 3-month mentorship programme and have landed some non-dilutive funding as well as free credits on the Google Cloud Platform to facilitate app development. Congrats — keeping an eye on these startups…

🍔 Chow Now, Pay Later. DoorDash and Klarna got tongues-a-wagging this past week after they announced their partnership to give DoorDash customers the ability to purchase food on the platform and pay it off across four interest-free payments via BNPL player Klarna. Jip. Crazy times.

😎 The Stack. Founders need trustworthy tools and suppliers. Our Founder’s Stack includes an easy-to-apply R5M business finance facility from Lula, next-level authority building and lead generation with Stream, and loads more vital startup tools and services.

BUILDING TOGETHER

Happening over at The Open Collab

In the last few days alone, in our online network, we…

• Got a ton of awesome startup podcasts to check out — thanks, Elijah 🚀.

• Got our tickets for our first-ever event in Joburg 🥳.

• Got another host of awesome and unique startup tools.

• Discovered a super affordable text-to-speech app for Mac.

• Helped Lenard with some connections in the local EV space.

• Helped connect Jason with some startups in the human rights space.

• Got a few peeps a sweet 20% discount on their newsletter platforms.

• Lined up a few beta testers for Thijan’s next project… 🏕️

• Welcomed more new members — what a pleasant din in here.

Thinking about joining The Open Collab?

• Supercharge your network in the SA startup landscape — get that introduction, get that customer, or meet that partner.

• Get feedback on your products, services and/or offers from others who have built and are building their own products right now.

• Join all our online and in-person events for free!

• Exclusive 1-on-1 sessions with startup consultants.

SA’s only dedicated tech startup and scale-up founder network.

WHAT YOU SAID

Better bites…

Last Friday, we riddled you about an SA startup that helps increase restaurant profits, and many of us recognised Munch…

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🍽️ Morsel.Tech (20%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📖 MenuMate (25%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🍔 Munch (45%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🥗 MealSync (10%)

Your 2 cents…

True dat, Khanyiso. It’s also happens to be 100% spot on. 🎯