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
Flock Platform@FlockPlatform
Amazing mention in Disrupt Africa this morning! Flock is certainly disrupting the events landscape in SA and globally! 🙂 http://disrupt-africa.com/2019/04/sa-startup-flock-going-global-with-effective-event-management-tech/ …
SA startup Flock going global with effective event management tech
“Lots was going on at the SA Investment Conference in October, but much of it was taking place via an app developed by homegrown tech startup Flock.”
disrupt-africa.com
Flow
Gil Sperling@gksperling
It’s validating to see the global applications for Flow – the South African rental market is following global trends of #generationrent, there is a clear need to provide a #proptech platform to help revolutionise the rental experience and unlock value https://lnkd.in/dJaYi5KPropTech Today: Money for good behaviour? PropTech helping renters
“Interesting news this week from South Africa where the PropTech startup, Flow, has raised R20m in the country’s ‘biggest PropTech seed investment to date’. The Flow solution…”
estateagenttoday.co.uk
Franc Group
Franc@francgroup
How a coffee fix can turn into R175,000
Giraffe
“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
