A little too fuzzy? A de-extinction startup (working to bring back extinct animals) has gene-modified mice with Woolly Mammoth traits and the result is these hairy little guys. They say it’s an important step towards actually bringing Mammoths back. But works as a pretty good PR stunt too. 🦣

Right now, though, it’s time for another Fast-Five Friday — 5 things in startup you should know, let’s go…

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1. TO THE POINT

ESPs Slick AI Catcher-Upperer

Since March last year, our EskomSePush app notifications have been pretty quiet (aside from the 2 recent quick bursts of loadshedding in Jan and Feb this year)...

But what’s been really interesting to see are the community forums launched back in 2019. 

Obviously quite loadshedding-focused at the time, these have morphed to become area-specific community chats about everything from water and power outages in the area to connecting buyers and sellers – even job-finding mechanisms. 

These forums allow users to find what's happening in their immediate area (local WhatsApp groups are hard to find), without their phone number out there for nosy Mrs Jones to get her hands on.

They recently integrated AI into the forums, which keeps an eye out for problematic messages, and provides pretty good summaries of chats, especially when a whole bunch of messages got sent about a hot local topic. Very cool.

2. MAKING WAVES IN AFRICA

Kenya’s Succulent Surf Sesh

Most modern surfboards are made from plastic derivatives, fibreglass and resin, which is great for keeping the boards lightweight, buoyant, and durable. But not so good for the environment…

Something a 30’000 acre sisal agave (succulent) farm in Kenya is looking to change. 

Grow Blanks manufactures 100% organic, biodegradable agave surfboard blanks which can then be exported all over the world to be shaped by hand or with conventional surfboard tools by surfboard makers.

The shaping waste and offcuts are biodegradable or can be used as protective packaging or as spare parts for repairs.

Grow Blank employs 3’000 Kenyans (and houses a community of over 8’000) on the farm. Kenya believe it?

3. MULTI-AGENT AI

The World’s First AI Dev Team?

Well, it’s happening, multi-Agent AI teams have arrived…

It felt like just a few months ago, building anything remotely technical required a dev shop (big money over a few months). But that might not be the case for long…  

MGX (MetaGPT X) is a multi-agent AI platform based on real software standard operating procedures.

Now you can have access to Dev Team 24/7, comprising AI Team Leader “Mike”, AI Product Manager “Emma”, AI Architect “Bob”, AI Engineer “Alex” and Data Analyst “David”, to create websites, blogs, shops, analytics and games.

Simply enter what you want to build in the chat, and walk away for a coffee while the MGX AI Dev team starts work – ok, it’s actually pretty cool to watch it work. 

4. IN OUR OPEN COLLAB COMMUNITY

Getting SA Ventures to Look the Part

We all build fast, break things and pivot fifteen times a week in the early days. But for every venture idea, there comes that crucial moment when you must choose: Are we gonna let this fizzle or shoot for the moon?

That’s where SA founders like Sabeeha Banubhai from Jack Studios come in. Sabeeha and team have helped over 150+ local and international early-to-growth-stage startups across various industries go from “backyard promise” to market-ready.

Whether it’s:

• Improving their pitch deck

• Building an investor-ready product demo

• Updating their website to reflect brand & value

• Improving user experience & capturing vital user flows

• UI design to make your apps look the part

So, if you or someone you know are in that “we gotta get serious” space, Sabeeha does free 30-minute workshops where they help you discover your current challenges, what’s needed to get it looking pro and if maybe Jack Studios can help.

PS: Want to build with founders like Sabeeha? She’s part of the Open Collab, our dedicated founder community full of SA’s most daring founders, building exciting startups – come join us.

5. REAPING A HARVEST

SA’s Growing AgriTech Scene

Big news in SA AgriTech this week is that homegrown AgriTech startup Khula has raised another R126 million as part of their still-open Series A round from investors including Absa Bank, PepsiCo’s Kgodiso Fund, AECI and E Squared.

Khula is helping over 15’000 farmers get access to key inputs like chemicals, crop feed and more, at fair prices from more than 100 suppliers to see their crops grow. Farmers can also get expert help with spraying programs and technical support, lock in buyers and get paid faster with crop contracts, and potentially get access to Khula’s funding partners to help farmers (and their produce) grow – all in-app.

The funding will see Khula expand its team and product development capabilities, as well as explore new markets.

Huge congrats Karidas Tshintsholo and the Khula team.

IN SHORT

Convo starters for your weekend plans…

🔌 Power Play. SA Fintech and payments provider Lesaka has acquired local prepaid electricity submetering and payments business Recharger in a deal worth R507 million. The electricity long game has started…

🤖 AI Voiceovers. Amazon’s Prime Video is testing AI-assisted dubbing for selected movies and TV shows in English and Latin American Spanish. It’ll combine AI and human localisation pros for “quality control”. We saw what our AI notetaker did with Afrikaans recently; this could be lekka funny.

🔒 Lock it down. Google Cloud and the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (NEMISA) have partnered to bring Google’s Cyber Security Professional Certificate to 12’000 SA students. An awesome opportunity in a majorly trending field.

🛵 Shoprite Sixty60. After a successful pilot in Atlantis, Western Cape, and Jabulani in Soweto, Shoprite Sixty60 will roll out to 19 Shoprite stores across 8 provinces. On the Checkers side — Checkers Sixty60 is now also available on the web. Very nice.

😎 The Stack. Founders need tools and suppliers they can trust. Check out our Founder’s Stack with all your VC and startup legal sorted by Dommisse Attorneys, your own CFO for a fraction of the cost with OCFO and 12 more vital startup tools & services.

AH CLARITY….

Clarity Builds Confidence. Confidence Drives Growth.

Scaling a business isn’t just about working harder — it’s about working smarter. And that starts with clarity.

Most founders feel like they’re figuring things out as they go. But what if you knew exactly where your business stands, what challenges are normal, and how to break through to the next stage?

That’s what Metavolve’s Lifecycle Guide is for. It lays out the key phases of business growth, the obstacles that come with each stage, and how to navigate them with confidence.

With the right roadmap, you can:

✅ Recognise the real bottlenecks holding you back.

✅ Stop second-guessing yourself and make decisions with conviction.

✅ Lead with confidence knowing you’re on the right path.

The best founders aren’t just ambitious — they’re clear on where they’re going and how to get there.

🚀 Get the Lifecycle Guide and take control of your growth.

DON’T MISS THIS

Coming Up in SA’s Most Vibrant Tech Founder Community

Coming up in our members-only, founder community — The Open Collab.

7 March 12:00 — Masterclass: How to validate early-stage ideas in SA with Thijan Dippenaar from The Delta.

11 March 12:00 — Chat Roulette: Come meet fellow SA founders and engage in startup-building topics.

12 March 10:00 — Office Hours: “Come rate my MVP” - founders giving founders feedback.

18 March 16:00— Founder Social: Cape Town founders gather for a cold one!

21 March 12:00 — Masterclass: How to growth hack in SA with Ben Blaine from Neurabuild.

PLUS: Access all the recordings of our previous sessions including Sales, Products, PR and more.

JOBS IN TECH

One click away from that dream gig…

🗺️ Product Strategy Lead @ FairMoney

📊 Senior Data Analyst @ Gumtree South Africa

🎨 Senior Product Designer @ Zensar Technologies

🌐 Various roles @ fibertime (send an email: [email protected])

🚀 Social and Content @ The Open Letter (yep that’s us, we are hiring, send memes)

Hiring? Get in touch, and we will feature it here.

GAME TIME

Riddle us this…

I don’t drive, yet I keep roads clear,

With data and AI, I make traffic steer.

Red, green, and orange, my signals are smart,

I sync them with traffic flow, a real-time art.

WHAT YOU SAID

Outta this world…

On Tuesday, we asked what you’d send into space, and it’s business ideas all the way…

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👨‍🚀 Me (13%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😎 Some or other marketing stunt (5%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 👽 A message in a bottle for the aliens (26%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🤑 Something to make a lot of money (39%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👿 Someone I don’t like (17%)

Missed it? Read about this SA SpaceTech startup doing big things.