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Here’s how Africa Chivas Regal winner EmptyTrips will disrupt logistics sector
Barely a year old, Johannesburg based online trip exchange platform EmptyTrips has been having a good year. The startup won the Africa Chivas Regal Venture Pitching Den at the SA Innovation Summit earlier this month and will represent South Africa at the 2018 Startup World Cup in San Francisco next year. EmptyTrips will next take part in the Slush Global Impact Accelerator in Finland between 21 November and 2 December. The startup has also participated in Singularity U Global Impact Challenge where it was one of the top five finalists and in the annual Seedstars competition where it was placed third in the SA leg of the competition. The five-month old company...
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Will electric cars substitute conventional ones? [Sponsored]
The sharp decline in the cost of batteries is driving optimism for the future of the electric car. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, electric vehicles (EVs) are here to stay. Even more, they are going to become cheaper (a purchase price and maintenance cost) than conventional vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2022. Switching over to electric vehicles is expected to solve probably the biggest ecological issue – carbon emissions – that causes dangerous climate change and shortens lives of many people living in big cities. But in spite of government-initiated subsidies, electric cars are still unaffordable for many people because...
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FNB manager details six ways startups can improve their pitch to a corporate
One of the worse things a tech entrepreneur looking to pitch to a corporate can do, is to send one liners to corporate managers asking for individuals to call them, says FNB's head of enterprise development Heather Lowe. "The bank is a business and as you would expect, it is not obliged to simply spend time and resources following up with no ends. Businesses need to take the pitch seriously from the onset," she says. Stakeholders are busy and quite often one has one chance to make an impression, says FNB head The advice is one of six tips she says startups should...
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SA bitcoin platform Luno closes R120m round led by Balderton Capital
South African founded bitcoin platform Luno today announced its expansion into 35 new markets across Europe, and a R120-million Series B funding round, led by London-based venture capital firm Balderton Capital. Rand Merchant Investments, through its fintech investment arm, AlphaCode, and existing investors Digital Currency Group also participated in the round. Luno allows users to buy and sell digital currencies. The announcement follows Luno’s R60-million Series A round in 2015, which was led by emerging market tech giant Naspers. While Luno CEO Marcus Swanepoel declined to reveal the exact size of the stake in the company that investors had taken, he said that...
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Microsoft 4Afrika teams up with Tony Elumelu Foundation to help IT firms
Microsoft, through its 4Afrika Initiative, has collaborated with the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) to provide entrepreneurs in the foundation's entrepreneurship programme with technology-based tools, resources and mentorship. Microsoft said in a press release yesterday that through the support the two organisations will help entrepreneurs to use ICT to modernise their businesses. Microsoft Nigeria general manager Akin Banuso said the company has found that SMEs who adopt modern IT have seen 15% faster revenue growth than those not using IT. Microsoft and the Tony Emumelu Foundation will help entrepreneurs to use ICT to modernise their businesses Microsoft 4Afrika will provide TEF entrepreneurs with: Access to cloud-based software, online support and...
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Who is Israeli angel investor company behind success of SA’s Zapper?
In under four years South African mobile payments platform Zapper has grown to operate in 12 markets, employing over 300 people. It sounds like a SA startup success -- but who really owns the Durban-based company? The company, which earlier this month introduced mobile payment starter packs to the market, does not provide information on its website on who its owners are. While a number of media stories have in the past have referred to Zapper Group CEO David de Villiers (pictured above), as the founder of Zapper, the former IT head at Investec bank told Ventureburn that he started the firm in November 2013 with...
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Here are the 40 entrepreneurs that will take part in Vusi Thembekwayo initiative
Venture capitalist Vusi Thembekwayo has selected South Africa’s #Top40 entrepreneurs who will undergo an 18-month mentorship programme. The programme is hosted by Thembekwayo's MyGrowthFund, which aims to nurture high-growth entrepreneurs through funding, incubation and enterprise development. The #Top40 entrepreneurs were selected from almost 3000 SMEs who applied for the programme earlier this year, Thembekwayo said in a press release today. “The volume and quality of applications is a reflection that entrepreneurship is alive and thriving in South Africa," he said. The 40 include those running businesses that turn over as little as R1-million a year, to those that have an annual turnover of R39-million annually. The SMEs...
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SA startup ThisIsMe selected to take part in Gartner’s Innovation programme
Fintech startup ThisIsMe has been selected to participate in this year’s Gartner’s Innovation Programme which takes place in Cape Town from tomorrow and runs until Thursday (19 to 21 September). The programme forms part of the GartnerSymposium ITxpo, one of the world's most important gatherings of chief information officers (CIOs) and senior IT executives which showcases the latest solutions from key technology providers. The event takes place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. ThisIsMe will participate in Gartner's Innovation Programme, which forms part of the GartnerSymposium ITxpo ThisIsMe enables businesses to reduce fraud, automate FICA and KYC checks, improve onboarding and increase revenue while providing...
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Top startup events in South Africa, Africa you should know about this week [18/09/2017]
Looking to get into the South African startup scene or catch up on some of your skills? Well, you've come to the right place. There are loads of competitions, networking sessions and workshops happening around South Africa and the rest of the continent (namely Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana) that we've rounded up to make your life a bit easier. This article is part of a weekly series that highlights all the top startup competitions, networking sessions, workshops and conferences around South Africa, and the greater region. If you have any event recommendations for us to add to the list, or...
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Don’t assume you know more about tech than those you pitch to – Clicks head
Startups that pitch their apps or web platform to corporates should not assume that they are more knowledgeable technologically than those that they are pitching to. So says Amanda Graham, Head of Business Development at Clicks Group. This is one of the six "obvious" mistakes that startups pitching to corporates make, says Graham. The others include (among others) failing to read up on the company's existing products, assuming that the corporate does not have access to world benchmarks and presenting to the corporate why everything they are doing is wrong. Startups must not assume that they are more knowledgeable technologically than individuals that they are...
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