Author: Gugu Lourie

Pick n Pay has rebranded the Bottles app into Pick n Pay ASAP! as the retailer sees a jump in online sales spurred by a pandemic-led digital boom in South Africa. In November 2020, Pick n Pay said it purchased the application system infrastructure and the related intellectual property relating to the Bottles on-demand mobile application for a purchase price of R33 million. The company launched in 2016 as South Africa’s first alcohol on-demand delivery app and partnered with Pick n Pay in 2018.  Its offer was the first of its kind, promising that orders would be fulfilled within 60 minutes. Following the…

Woolworths reported today a 118% rise in online food sales as the retailer benefited from a pandemic-led digital boom in South Africa. “Online sales grew by 117.9% over the current year, contributing 2.3% to our South African Food sales,” the retailer informed investors today. “This was further supported by the expanded Click-and-Collect offering and the roll out of our on-demand delivery service, Woolies Dash.” The Woolworths Food business grew both market share and volumes during the period despite the high base set in the prior year driven by stockpiling ahead of the first lockdown. Sales for the current year grew…

Revix, a FinTech investment platform, is exploring ways to enable South Africans to invest in popular technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), BioTech, and 5G. The company, led and founded by Sean Sanders, aims to be the first provider in South Africa to launch various themes one can invest in. “South Africans haven’t been able to invest in some of the exciting industries like biotech, AI, and 5G technologies,” Sanders told TechFinancials in an interview today. “We want to be the first player in South Africa to essentially allow people to invest in these areas and enable them to do…

MTN has retained its position as the fastest mobile operator in South Africa, according to new research from credible network speed-testing services. The second-biggest mobile phone operator is ahead of rival Vodacom in terms of the speed available on their respective networks. The reports from Ookla reveals MTN was the fastest mobile operator among top providers in South Africa in Q2 2021 with a Speed Score of 60.44 on modern chipsets. The operator that is led by Godfrey Motsa also came up tops in the highest Consistency Score. Ookla said that in measuring the consistency of each operator’s performance, we found that MTN had the highest Consistency Score in South Africa…

Revix, a FinTech investment platform with offices in Cape Town and London, plans to launch its mobile application in two months. The startup uses some of the R58.5 million it raised from an off-shore capital funding to build its app. “We are launching our mobile app in two months, which is quite exciting,” Sean Sanders, the founder and CEO of Revix, told TechFinancials in an interview. The launch of the mobile app comes at a time when the company’s platform is gaining traction. Sanders said the platform has more than 22 000 customers and is growing fast. Revix was founded…

S outh Africa’s FinTech investment platform Revix aims to expand its operations into Europe and the Middle East. The platform with offices in Cape Town and London is also not discounting setting up operations into the rest of Africa, especially in key markets of Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt. “We would love to grow more into Africa,” Sean Sanders, the founder, and CEO of Revix, told TechFinancials in an interview. “The big conundrum we face in Africa is the regulation side of things.” Sanders said Africa was very slow to adopt cryptocurrencies regulations and introduce new innovative regulations. “As a…

South African-founded Revix is bringing simplicity, trust, and excellent customer service to the crypto investment space. The FinTech investment platform with offices in Cape Town and London enables South Africans to invest in a bundle of the top cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Gold, and more. Revix was founded in 2018 on the principle that everyone should invest their own money and become their wealth manager. The company’s customer growth has mirrored the exponential rise in the cryptocurrency market, which is valued at over $2 trillion or R29 trillion – making the digital asset class more valuable than Apple. Sean Sanders, the founder,…

Swiss Investment Company Crypto Valley Venture Capital will use its new Cape Town office to look for early-stage startups in Africa. More and more blockchain applications are being implemented across the African continent. According to the 2020 Global Crypto Adoption Index, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria have the highest rates of crypto and blockchain adoption worldwide. It was highlighted that there is a very high understanding of the potential of this technology in South Africa in particular. Crypto Valley Venture Capital’s goal in Africa, together with partners from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Federal Department of…

In the new 2022 AMG SL Roadster, Mercedes-Benz has designed the touchscreen to be adjusted electrically into a more vertical position. The German carmaker said in a statement that the touchscreen’s portrait format offers clear advantages, especially for navigation, as well as more space ergonomically. The first 300 SL Roadster is one of the most famous automobile icons. It’s minimalist and high-quality interior inspired the designers to create the interior for the new Mercedes-AMG SL. For the new edition of the icon, they created a mix of analogue geometry and digital world – called “hyperanalogue”. A good example of this…

The Volkswagen (VW) Group has unveiled a  bold new auto business strategy that aims to transform the group into a software-driven mobility company with a strong focus on its powerful brands and global technology platforms, providing synergies and scale as well as opening up new profit pools. Herbert Diess, the CEO of VW, laid out the strategy on Tuesday stating that VW is setting new priorities to leverage the opportunities arising from the electric and digital era of mobility, with sustainability and decarbonization as integral parts of its new strategy. “We set ourselves a strategic target to become global market leader…