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- 🇿🇦 3 Local Startups That Scored Big
🇿🇦 3 Local Startups That Scored Big
Plus: Your chance to be No. 4 🏆, First National Bok, rage bait antidote & local AI funding.
Hi there,
Tried OpenAI’s GPT‑4o native image gen yet? It lets you generate and edit uploaded images with prompts, so you can do fun stuff like become fake BFFs with Zuckerberg on the streets of Jozi or re-imagine The Open Letter team as South Park characters…
You’re welcome!
Back on Earth, though, it’s time for a very special Fast-FOUR Friday — 3 Startups of the Year you should know… and your chance to become number 4. Let’s go…
First time reading? Join 23,045 South African professionals and sign up.
Thank You, Joburg!
Our first-ever in-person Joburg event was a big jol (last night). It was awesome connecting with the Gauteng crowd — and, of course, we all left a little smarter and with hopefully loads of new AI business model ideas.
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Look out for more upcoming events here and, if you want near 24/7 access to 100+ SA founders building cool things, plus free entry to all of our events, consider joining The Open Collab.
1. THE BOOST YOU NEED
Innovation City’s Startup of the Year 2025
Innovation City in Cape Town’s Startup of the Year Competition is back for its 4th edition...
And, if you ask previous winners like Kena Health (2022), Wamly (2023) and AI Diagnostics (2024), winning this could help put you on the startup map, validate ideas and teams, and even open up some partnership and investment doors.
We’re an official partner for the 2025 awards, and we’re going to unlock some extra value for entrants:
anonymised report from all of the entries
to help SA startups benchmark their progress
Meaning win or lose, entering gives you deeper insights and great value!
Entries are open until next week Friday, 4 April 2025, with the winner announced on 24 April at the Innovation City Awards Night Ceremony.
So if you’re a South African Startup (with an office in SA), have been going for less than 5 years, with a team of 2 or more, and generating monthly recurring revenue with an MVP or service in the market, you should enter now…
In today’s newsletter, we take some time to share about previous award winners and what it’s meant for their businesses.
2. SCREEN TIME
Using the sound of TB to improve patient diagnosis
Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent worldwide (1.25 million died from TB in 2023 alone) with nearly 30% of cases missed because it shares symptoms with a host of other diseases.
AI Diagnostics is a Tuberculosis diagnostics tool (wireless digital stethoscope and data capturing app) that leverages their TB detection AI model to analyse the sound of a patient’s lungs to either rule out TB or prompt further tests.
And it’s already delivering results with a 63% reduction in missed TB-positive patients…
On Winning the Innovation City Startup of the Year in 2024:
Before the membership (which we won as part of the prize), I was pretty convinced that we could build this business with a remote team, but my time at Innovation City showed me otherwise. Remote calls can't simulate the relationships, gut and trust that develop during in-person engagements — all of which are key for deep collaboration.
3. CAN YOU TAKE ME HIRE?
Recruitment, slicker and quicker
Hiring for a role can be time-consuming and costly – taking as much as 42 days (and costing R30k–R60k) to hire one person. Eina.
Wamly, an HRTech platform for one-way video interviews lets companies evaluate candidates asynchronously and flexibly while getting a better feel for them as they answer interview questions in a self-interview-style flow.
The platform also features screening forms, customisable interview questions, skills testing capabilities and administrative and collaborative tools to streamline your team’s interview and hiring process – saving companies as much as 70% compared to traditional interviews.
On Winning the Innovation City Startup of the Year in 2023:
Wamly tripled in revenue, reached profitability, expanded our product offering, more than doubled our staff complement, and is now gearing up for a Series A round to expand even more internationally.
4. IN CONSULTATION WITH
The doctor in your pocket
Seeing a private healthcare provider in SA is a costly exercise – costing between R400 and R1’000 a visit.
Not to mention the less than 8 Drs per 10’000 South Africans, making it tricky for most South Africans to see a doctor when they need to.
Kena Health is a healthcare app that connects you with nurses, clinical associates, doctors, and mental health professionals to diagnose and treat you for anything from acne to a UTI, via text, voice or video call – for just R235 per consultation (including sick notes & prescriptions).
On Winning the Innovation City Startup of the Year in 2022:
We’ve gone from launch to 50k consultations delivered. We’ve lowered the cost of care by over 70% compared to a local GP — while maintaining a 4.7/5 customer rating. And we’ve landed Old Mutual and Shoprite as partners, which will see our growth accelerate from here.
YOU NEXT?
Today’s 5th spot is reserved in honour of the soon-to-be 2025 Innovation City Startup of the Year.
Will it be you?
Only one way to find out…
IN SHORT
Your weekend convo starters, shorted…
🤝 Making the Shyft. Standard Bank’s Shyft trading app has launched the ability to trade shares on the JSE. This is over and above giving both Standard Bank and other local Banks’ customers the ability to invest in US equities, the European stock market and UK-listed companies. Very cool…
💰Securing the Bag. Local AI startup NOSIBLE has landed $1 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by Atlantica Ventures to launch its growth marketing efforts, scale sales, and accelerate the GTM strategy. Nice one.
😡 Fighting the Rage. A new social media app has been launched to fight rage bait (any content that stirs controversy). Sez Us lets users rate other users’ posts for approval, influence, insightfulness, relevance and politeness, in the hope it makes users think twice about posting controversial content. Now, where’s the fun in that?
🏉 Backing the Boks. FNB has become the new principal sponsor of the Boks. Pick n Pay also becomes a Tier 1 sponsor, with its logo appearing on the back of the jersey, while Coca-Cola’s logo will appear on their shorts. Check out this hilarious vid about the new rule changes brought about by the FNB partnership.
😎 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.
DON’T MISS THIS
Coming Up in SA’s Most Vibrant Tech Founder Network
Next up in our members-only founder network — The Open Collab.
28 March 12:00 — Growth hack like SnapScan. An Open Collab Network Exclusive Masterclass: How to growth hack in SA with Ben Blaine from Neurabuild (ex SnapScan)— join The Open Collab to attend.
4 April 12:00 — Make them take note. An Open Collab Network Exclusive Masterclass: Marketing for scaling your startup with Kurt Schröder from Double Shift — join The Open Collab to attend.
11 April 12:000 — Chat Roulette: Meet other SA founders and builders when we all log in for an online check-in and chat to get to network — join The Open Collab to attend.
PLUS: When you join The Open Collab get access to expert sessions, more than 100 SA founders to network with and weekly online and offline network engagements.
JOBS IN TECH
Lock in your next step…
🏗️ Product Manager: Insights & ML Empowerment, Group Data Platform @ Sanlam
👩💻 Various Tech Jobs @ Wamly
🎨 Senior User Interface Designer @ SYTMN
💼 Business Development Manager @ Cue
Hiring? Get in touch, and we will feature it here.
GAME TIME
Test your SA Startup knowledge…
Which South African startup raised the largest seed round in 2023?Answer to see what others say... |
WHAT YOU SAID
Rather handy…
On Tuesday, we asked how you tackle home renovations and repairs, and most of us are not too shabby at DIY…
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🧰 I’m well-versed in all things DIY. (33%)
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🪵 I Noah guy. (24%)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💬 I get recommendations on my neighbourhood groups. (16%)
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 💸 Saw the quote, fainted and now learning how to DIY on YouTube. (27%)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👷♂️ Nah, I have an even better solution… (0)
Your 2 cents…
“As long as it's not open heart surgery, I'll attempt DIY 1st before calling a specialist.”
Nice, Isaac! So how often do you get it right before needing to make the call? 🔧
“The newsletter cheered me up and made me more otimistic.”
Great, Timothy! We’re trying to show everyone just how much wonderful talent and potential there is in our country. 🚀
What did you think of today's newsletter?Let us know by voting and leaving a comment |
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Until next time,
Elvorne, Renier & Jason
