Flock mention: 9 amazing start-ups from Johannesburg to watch

The Johannesburg start-up scene is bursting with potential, characterised by founders focused on opportunities in areas such as fintech and the internet of things.

Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in country. It is also at the centre of the global gold and diamond trade.

Seismic societal, economic and political changes in South Africa in recent decades have created a society in constant flux, and the diverse array of start-ups reflects this in terms of practical apps, hardware, security and fintech solutions.

South Africa boasts a seasoned investor scene with angel syndicates and players that include Jozi Angels, the South African Business Angel Network, Africa Angels Network and AngelHub Ventures.

This is balanced with a busy venture capital community whose players include Singularity, 4Di Capital, Action Hero Ventures, Knife Capital, Business Partners, Grovest Venture Capital, Kalon Venture Partners, Edge Growth, Invenfin, the Omidyar Network, Silvertree Capital, Sonic Ventures, the eVentures Africa Fund, Seedstars World and Havaíc.

Crowdfunding is a particularly popular go-to-market strategy for founders, with popular platforms that include Uprise.Africa, Thundafund, RainFin and The People’s Fund.

And so, here are the start-ups from Johannesburg to watch.

Bank Zero

A fintech focused on disrupting the established order of things, Bank Zero is a new app-driven bank and a company that has developed its own app ecosystem and patented card technology. It has also developed crucial anti-fraud technologies and has received a banking licence from the South African Reserve Bank. Full public operations are expected to start by the second half of 2019. The company was co-founded by Michael Jordaan and Yatin Narsai.

Flock Eventing Platform

Flow

Franc Group

Giraffe

Bizcommunity HR@Biz_HR

“South African recruitment startup Giraffe launches automated voice screening http://bizcom.to/1/426u | @Giraffe_Jobs ” #bizpressoffice via @Biz_HR

Giraffe is a recruitment app designed to help users find opportunities in areas such as retail, admin and security. Founded in 2015, Giraffe is led by CEO Anish Shivdasani. It won the Seedstars World award for Best Global Startup 2016, representing South Africa to beat more than 53 start-ups. The company has raised $500,000 in funding to date, according to Crunchbase.

InvestSure

InvestSure provides application program interfaces (APIs) to enable partner investment platforms to sell insurance products to their clients. Established in 2017 by Shane Curran, Mbulelo Mpofana and Ignatious Nkwinika, InvestSure has raised more than $761,000, according to Crunchbase. Investors include Lireas Holdings, Compass Insurance and 4Di Capital.

MaxiCash

MaxiCash is a financial support ecosystem built around remittance and payments for the African diaspora to support their families. Launched in 2016, the company came third at the Johannesburg leg of the Seedstars World start-up competition and it has been selected for the Go Global Africa programme in London.

MeMeZa

Pineapple

 

 

Carel Nolte@carelnolte

 

Super proud of & excited for @Pineapple_SA – read all about in today’s @SundayTimesZA … power of incubation & accelerator platforms @HannoverReAfric @Google Loved chatting to the guys @cnandco HQ https://www.cnandco.com/on-the-couch-1/

Pineapple is an insurtech start-up that lets users insure personal belongings just by snapping a picture of them with their smartphone. Premiums go into a peer-to-peer community wallet. The Pineapple founding team of Matthew Elan Smith, Ndabenhle Junior Ngulube and Marnus van Heerden got together as part of an innovation competition run by Hannover-Re in 2016 in an effort to find disruptive models to the reinsurance/insurance space. The company raised 5.2m rand in 2017.

Article by John Kennedy

Full article at: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/johannesburg-tech-entrepreneurs-south-africa 

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