Money sense? Yes, Donald Trump named Elon Musk part of his administration. Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are going to head up the new US department of DOGE (Department Of Government Efficiency), and they have one goal: to reduce wasteful government spending.

Lucky Americans; just imagine if we could get that in SA… 🇿🇦

In this Open Letter:

• Fertile soil: New SA tech helps farmers increase crop yield by 50%+.

• Jozi’s R90M space dome, OpenAI’s helper bot & SA’s Google Boost.

• Early Black Friday: Win a year’s worth of free KYC for your startup.

• What needs real-time data visualisation: The results are in.

• Short on ideas? Share this and get 100+ SA startup ideas.

Together with:

TRENDING NOW

Helping Farmers Put 50% More on Your Plate

Since that one guy decided enough with the hunting and the gathering, and started farming 12’000 years ago, it’s been a tough gig…

At the mercy of drought on the one end of the weather, and flooding, hail and frost on the other, weather patterns have always played a significant part in the success, or failure, of a farm.

In recent years, however, there has been more extreme weather, more frequently, and with more intensity.

How we gonna feed all these people?

There are nearly 8.2 billion of us on planet Earth (including the 10 astronauts in space right now), and we’re set to add just under 2 billion people by 2050, requiring a 60% increase in food production…

But that’s not all. The world’s arable farmland is decreasing with at least 100 million hectares of healthy and productive land lost each year to urbanisation, degrading soil and soil erosion, pollution, deforestation, and desertification to name but a few.

Some areas are already experiencing food insecurity with nearly 240 million people in 48 countries experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity.

In essence, our food requirement is up (and rising), and arable land is down, meaning farmers need to produce double the amount of food with half the land…

And while we’re not at post-apocalyptic levels (just yet), it’s important to figure out some innovative solutions to help farms offset the effects of extreme weather, and maximise their crop yields…

Helping farmers produce more with less…

Local AgriTech AgriLogiq focuses on smart farming solutions for protected cultivation that reduce resource needs and increase crop yield. 

Protected cultivation offers ways for farmers to control the impact of the weather on crops growing under anything from shade netting to polytunnels, and inside warehouses. This allows for protection against fungal growth, plant diseases, and pests and an increase in yield by as much as 50%.

But the thing with this is it changes the environment under the covers, introducing a whole host of new variables the farmer has to cater for – it needs to be constantly managed. Temperature and humidity changes, light is impacted, and air and soil composition changes. 

That’s where AgriLogiq’s solution, which comprises hardware and software, offers: 

• Automation controllers for precise climate control

• Agricultural sensors to pick up rainfall, Co2 levels, soil probes and more

• Data analytics to provide farmers with data to help create optimal growing environments, improve plant health, and enable data-driven decision-making

• Automated irrigation, mechanical drive, and greenhouse automation components

• All accessible remotely, so farmers can monitor and control their systems from anywhere in the world. 

More green for your capital

AgriLogiq is helping its customers reduce their capital expenditure by 52% and save as much as 86% on operating expenses.

In one instance, AgriLogiq was able to turn a Green Pepper farm in Mpumalanga from a 35% YoY crop loss to a zero loss and a 50% increase in crop yield.  

But what’s really interesting is that AgriLogiq is allowing farmers to farm produce in regions they previously weren't able to be farmed. 

Building solutions to help farmers maximise their crop yield, making a play for sustainable farming solutions, and helping secure food for our people; we can't help but watch this space…

CHECK THIS OUT

Save R100k+ in Anti-Fraud Monitoring

One of the most insidious risks FinTechs, PropTechs, Marketplaces, FreightTech, LegalTech and a whole host of GamingTech ventures face is money laundering- and terrorism fraud…

Because South Africa is a major target – we lose over R1.1 trillion in illicit financial flows every year and hundreds of illegal millions more is estimated to flow through SA, which is exactly why SA is on the greylist (remember that?).

We’ve warned about this before – last year one of our most-read posts was on the risk this poses to both corporate SA and new ventures.

It’s important to protect your company. To recap:

• You need to do sanction list screening as part of your KYC on every potential new client BEFORE entering into a business relationship with them.

• The penalties are severe: This year, the SARB fined Grindrod Bank R10M for non-compliance.

And you can bet they’re going to be doubly attentive now that SA’s Jan 2025 greylist deadline is approaching.

Get 1 year of free sanction screening this Black Friday*

Local sanction screening provider ZenDetect knows how painful it is for a new or scaling venture to take on additional KYC costs…

That’s why they’re giving away 1 year of continuous sanction screening (monitoring) worth over R100k+ (depending on your database size) for free, gratis and mahala this Black Friday, so you can stay compliant AND keep your pricing competitive.

To qualify, simply hit the button below and engage ZenDetect sanction screening and monitoring right now…

IN SHORT

Some lekke facts to gooi around the watercooler…

🇿🇦 Google Boost. Google has announced the 2024 cohort of SA startups to participate in the Google for Start-ups Accelerator Africa: Black Founders programme. They include online marketplace Aveade, on-demand delivery platform Breaze Delivery, Mapha Logistics a BusOps digital tools provider, Swagshack an online street fashion service, e-commerce and fintech platform Vuleka, and Wisi-Oi a video-based resell fashion reselling platform.

📽️ Dome mind if I do. The Johannesburg Planetarium has received a facelift to the tune of a R90 million ‘digital dome’ thanks to The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and Anglo American. The largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere - the dome will offer a 360° immersive experience via its state-of-the-art- projection system.

🤖 Helper Bot. OpenAi is getting ready to launch ‘Operator’ in January. ‘Operator’ is OpenAi’s latest AI that can use your computer to perform certain tasks on your behalf like booking travel tickets or writing code. Hmmm. What could go wrong?

👷‍♂️ Big Data. Big Expansion. SA’s largest data centre operator Teraco has received R8 million in funding to build a new data centre. The 40MW critical power load expansion will be completed in 2026, bringing the company’s Islando Campus in Ekurhuleni’s total critical power load capacity to 110MW.

😎 Domain Plays. Local e-commerce player Bash was quick to pounce on the exit of Zando and snapped up the Zando domains. Old Zando customers (and those heading to the site) will now instead be redirected to Bash.

🎯 The Stack. Founders need tools and suppliers they can trust. Check out our Founder’s Stack with the best in business strategy with Metavolve, investment, offshoring and startup legal insights with Dommisse Attorneys and 12 more vital startup tools & services.

BUILDING TOGETHER

Happening over at The Open Collab

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

• Made sure that Jesse and Jo had a lot of friends and support at last night’s startup mixer.

• Celebrated with Richard as he secured funding, found a niche to exploit and changed the game in 3 (tough but oh-so-worth-it) weeks.

• Got Bobby a potential local client, wink wink.

• Gawked at Tyler’s legal-docs assistant proto — and waiting eagerly to test it out… 🤩.

• Sourced Gustav about 3’500 Mailchimp alternative options.

• Learnt what’s in Danei’s “secret pink juice” and got her and Elijah to commit to driving across the country for a happy sale.

• Locked in loads of Startup of the Year votes for our fam.

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 community.

HAPPENING SOON

Upcoming Events

Join us this Friday for the second in a 3-part series with The Open Collab exclusive on B2B Sales Series. Want to learn what it’s about? Watch the video on IG below…

22 November 2024 — Product Masterclass — Online: Part 3: The tools, frameworks and habits of exceptional product teams — join The Open Collab community to attend for free.

29 November 2024 — Sales Masterclass — Online: Part 3: Keep your B2B sales pipeline filled with this Masterclass session with sales expert, Sebastian Chapman — Join The Open Collab community to attend for free.

6 December 2024 — AMA with Alan Knott-Craig: After our LinkedIn Live with Allan, you voted to an Ask Me Anything session — Join The Open Collab community to attend for free.

View all our upcoming events here.

WHAT YOU SAID

Food for thought…

We asked what you need real-time report visualisations on, and investments need more eyes…

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🍽️ What’s in my fridge at home. (14%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ❤️ My spouse's mood levels so I know when to wash dishes or take them for dinner. (17%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🎮 My ‘Diablo 4’ player rank in relation to Elon. (9%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 📈 When to buy/sell my stocks/currencies/crypto of choice. (51%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🛒 The value of specific Checkers Mini Shop collectables to lock in the best swaps. (9%)

Your 2 cents…

Ha, K, now that's some real-time reporting we could use too! 🥶📊

Love that, Nollie! Adapting old-school ways to modern tools is where the magic happens. 🚀📈