Author: Staff Writer
Tripplo, the Johannesburg-based innovative logistics software platform, has secured a $1.8 million or R33.8 million equity investment to close out its seed funding extension round. The round was led by Futuregrowth Asset Management (representing Old Mutual Life Assurance Company South Africa) and followed by Galloprovincialis. The two investors join Standard Bank of South Africa, Founders Factory Africa and Digital Africa Ventures. This capital injection will further enhance Tripplo’s vision of becoming the best logistics platform globally and its mission of revolutionising the logistics industry, driving innovation and efficiency in the movement of goods. “We are thrilled to welcome Futuregrowth Asset…
In today’s increasingly interconnected world, the impact of cyber threats and reduced availability of resources can’t be overstated. Businesses need high-performing, secure and easily managed storage more than ever. At Dell Technologies World in May, we announced updates across our storage portfolio in two key areas we’ve identified as critical to success: cyber resiliency to secure and protect data everywhere and breakthrough efficiency to lower both operational and energy costs. PowerStoreOS 3.5 kicked off the year with software-driven innovation to address these requirements, introducing features that accelerate Zero-Trust security adoption and improve operational efficiency. But we’re not done yet. PowerStore’s 3.6 release continues to help…
The majority of South African car shoppers are inclined towards owning an electric vehicle (EV) in the future, according to the 2023 South African Electric Vehicle Buyers Survey. Unsurprisingly it’s the youth (24-35 year-olds) rather than the oldies (over 65) who are most likely to be future EV buyers. But the EV’s higher price remains its biggest drawback along with charging time, lack of charging infrastructure and impact of load shedding. Its main advantages according to respondents? Reduced carbon emissions, reduced air pollution, and cheaper running costs. “The perceived disadvantage regarding the initial cost to purchase has decreased by 3.4% from…
Dutch-based technology platform Lisa BV will launch its smart leasing platform in South Africa after acquiring its core leasing technology platform from Inospace, South Africa’s largest last-mile logistics operator. Rael Levitt, founder and CEO of Inospace, announced Lisa’s breakthrough market entry today and confirmed that Inospace has entered into a three-year license agreement for Lisa to manage its half-a-million-square-metre property portfolio. Several South African property companies have already contracted with Lisa, which is rolling out its solutions to listed and unlisted property companies with portfolios of more than 200,000 sqm and 200 tenants. “Inotech was launched in 2021 to market…
Global investment manager with South African roots Ninety One has signed a new long lease with Growthpoint Properties for the building it has been in for more than two decades, signalling its commitment to the Cape Town CBD and environmental sustainability. Ninety One is based at the Growthpoint-owned 36 Hans Strijdom building in the Cape Town Foreshore, which it shares with Investec. However, next year Investec will be relocating to its new building at the V&A Waterfront. In a decision that was greatly influenced by Ninety One’s net zero carbon aspirations, after evaluating multiple options for its offices, including new…
Liquid Intelligent Technologies (Liquid), a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, has partnered with wingu.africa a pioneer provider of carrier-neutral data center services in Tanzania, and the foremost specialist carrier-neutral data center group in East Africa to introduce the second Azure Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) stack. This investment from Liquid Tanzania will provide a more conducive environment for local businesses to accelerate their digital transformation journeys.“In 2021, we were the first to bring Azure Stack to Tanzanian businesses, helping them gain access to cloud solutions that met the local data regulatory requirements and efficiently run latency-sensitive business applications. This…
Ecentric Payment Systems, the leader in retail payment processing in South Africa and 17 other African countries, has announced its acquisition of the IP, people, and customers of innovative technology payment solutions company Thumbzup, in a move that will benefit both business’s customers and support Ecentric’s strategy to become the dominant omnichannel player for retailers with a national footprint. Ecentric is already known for its best-of-breed technology for what is traditionally known as Tier one enterprise customers. It processes 20% of South Africa’s card transactions and serves as a trusted payments partner to 65% of the JSE-listed retailers, serving their…
Having co-developed the virtual wheeling solution with Eskom and concluded our agreement, we estimate that we will move approximately 30% of Vodacom South Africa’s power demand onto renewable sources, says Sitho Mdlalose, CEO of Vodacom South Africa. He added that this is a significant step towards the company’s renewable energy ambitions. “We are really excited that we have the opportunity to contribute to the national grid, and truly hope that through sharing our understanding of virtual wheeling and engaging both government and private participants on this solution, similar actions can be taken by other businesses across the country.” Mdlalose was…
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to own the Huawei Watch GT 4 – a perfect blend of style, innovation, and convenience. From only R6 999, get yours today from Takealot, Bash or from the HUAWEI online store and any HUAWEI Experience Store and you will receive a free Huawei Freebuds 2 SE and the HUAWEI Refresher Service, which includes, software updating, watch cleaning (including watch crowns), UV disinfection, and strap cleaning. From only R199 per month for 24 months you can get your Huawei Watch GT 4 from Vodacom, Cell C and Telkom or pop into any Totalsports or…
At this year’s Eskom Expo International Science Fair, young scientists have reaped the benefits of their hard work and ingenuity, receiving full- and partial bursaries, cash prizes, laptops, tablet computers, and opportunities for work-based exposure during their school holidays. The fair was held at the Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg from 3 to 6 October 2023, and brought together the brightest young scientists from across South Africa and various countries around the world. Title sponsor, Eskom awarded 23 full bursaries valued up to R450,000 each, and four Special Awards to the Best Female, Best Development, Best…
Paratus Zambia today announced that Starlink has launched its business services in Zambia today. “It is a very exciting opportunity for us to be involved in this initiative. We recognise and applaud the hard work done by our government, regulator, and other authorities, in conjunction with Starlink, in ensuring this leading-edge technology is available to the Zambian market. As Paratus, we pride ourselves on being technology and telecommunication leaders; and being directly involved with Starlink aligns to this,” Country Manager of Paratus Zambia, Marius van Vuuren says. “We are well prepared to take the Starlink service to our customers, both…
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) today announced the winners of the third annual Virtual Trading Game (VTG). The winner of the Speculator Portfolio is Avuzwa Mphithi from the Western Cape, with Ivone Stanley from Gauteng taking top honours in the ETF/ETN Portfolio. The winners will take home R60 000 each. The winners were announced at the 4th “Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy”, a campaign initiated by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) in partnership with the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in support of World Investor Week (WIW). WIW is a global campaign aimed at raising awareness about…
Hundreds of local app developers will participate in the annual MTN Business Hackathon from 6-8 October, with the objective of designing app solutions to solve some of South Africa’s unique social challenges. From solutions to assist communities in locating critical services from the palm of their hands to developing energy efficiency awareness apps, this 60-hour hackathon hopes to bring a myriad of solutions through the talents and innovation of South Africa’s novice app developers. In their efforts to develop solutions that will contribute to the future sustainability of the country’s energy and water sectors, the Energy and Water Sector Education…
South Africa’s first truly global discretionary fund manager (DFM), Cogence, announces Jonel Matthee-Ferreira at its first Chief Executive Officer effective 2 January 2024. Cogence is the first South African DFM making leading global fund research and insights available to local advisers through a powerful collaboration with BlackRock, Discovery and RisCura. Matthee-Ferreira has almost 20 years of senior management experience in asset management, including more than a decade heading leading multi-managers. She joins Cogence from Sanlam Multi-Management, and held a similar role at Absa Multi-Management. Prior to that, she held the position of Chief Investment Officer at Metropolitan Multi-Managers. Discovery Invest CEO,…
Bank Zero now offers commercial banking. Michael Jordaan, Chair of Bank Zero, says this means that businesses of any size can benefit from Bank Zero’s uniquely simple, effective and technology-driven approach to banking. “Bank Zero is ushering an innovative new approach far from the legacy ‘me-too’ solutions of traditional banks,” he says. “We have completely rethought commercial banking to bring it into the Digital Age. We’ve built it from the ground up, which means we have no legacy systems that are both cumbersome and costly, leading to inefficiency and high bank charges.” Yatin Narsai, Bank Zero CEO, says: “It was…
Payments infrastructure company Stitch today announced a $25 million or R481 million Series A extension, led by Ribbit Capital, bringing the total raised to $52 million or R1 billion. Stitch will use the funding to continue building its end-to-end payments solutions – designed to meet complex and evolving payments needs for global enterprise clients – and expand its reach to serve more markets. In addition to Ribbit Capital, existing investors including PayPal Ventures, The Raba Partnership and CRE Venture Capital have renewed their support, and several new investors joined including 9 Yards Capital. “We’ve known the Ribbit team for a…
Baobab Payments GmbH, trading as Peach Payments, has concluded a $30 million or R578 million funding round. The round, announced in April, was led by Apis Growth Fund II (the “Fund”), a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP (“Apis Partners”), a UK-based asset manager. Peach Payments is an enterprise-grade digital payment service provider that enables online payments in Africa for businesses of all sizes. In April 2023, Apis Partners announced the Fund’s intention to invest in Peach Payments as part of a funding round consisting of a mix of primary and secondary investments. “This funding has been raised…
Rosebud, an innovative new app that uses artificial intelligence to provide personalised feedback and guidance during journaling, officially launched in July 2023. Created by a Los Angeles-based startup, Rosebud aims to promote mental wellness, personal growth and productivity through tailored journaling support. “Rosebud is like having a personal coach in your pocket,” said the app’s co-founder, Chrys Bader. “It learns about you over time and evolves from a simple journal into an interactive partner that helps you process emotions, work through challenges and make progress on goals.” While journaling has long been used as a self-care tool, Rosebud brings the…
The launch of Sanlam Fintech – a business cluster within the Sanlam Group – signals a strategic move to expand the group’s existing fintech offering and ensure that all aspects of the $8-billion or R143-billion listed company’s services are digitally-led. The overarching goal is to use tech to accelerate access to financial services for all Africans, delivering on the brand’s purpose: to help Africans live with financial confidence. Gathered under the Sanlam Fintech cluster is a host of existing product houses that Sanlam – Africa’s largest non-banking financial services group – believes will be key for its digital, direct growth ambitions.…
Swoop, a fintech company specialising in funding solutions and Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology, are excited to announce their global partnership aimed at helping businesses and accountants access a wide range of funding opportunities. The partnership will also help identify opportunities to reduce business costs in areas such as energy, banking and foreign exchange, providing a significant impact on the bottom line. By integrating their Sage accounting software once, businesses can identify more accurate funding opportunities, streamline the funding process, unlock business savings, and benefit from tools such as cash flow forecasting. “In a world…
MTN’s Mobile Money platform, MoMo, with a substantial base of nine million subscribers in South Africa, is poised to elevate itself into one of the country’s leading financial services platforms. This transformation is underway with the introduction of a range of innovative services, which encompass a business wallet, a simplified payments solution, and international remittance capabilities. The MoMo Business Wallet represents a groundbreaking development, offering businesses the means to streamline their operations and optimise efficiency. Beyond facilitating real-time payments from customers without incurring transaction fees, thereby significantly enhancing profitability, it also grants access to a vast customer base that has…
SAP today announced Joule, a natural-language, generative AI copilot that will transform the way business runs. Joule will be embedded throughout SAP’s cloud enterprise portfolio, delivering proactive and contextualized insights from across the breadth and depth of SAP solutions and third-party sources. By quickly sorting through and contextualising data from multiple systems to surface smarter insights, Joule helps people get work done faster and drive better business outcomes in a secure, compliant way. Joule delivers on SAP’s proven track record of revolutionary technology that drives real results. “With almost 300 million enterprise users around the world working regularly with cloud…
In a move to further service its clients and to expand its reach, Durban accounting, and advisory firm Ngubane has re-established its operations in Johannesburg at a new location. This decision follows the recent absorption of its resident directors and personnel in the city by an international firm. As a proudly South African operation, Ngubane’s decision not to be absorbed by another firm guarantees its continued presence in Johannesburg and underscores the distinct advantages indigenous accounting firms have to offer. The company says retaining it presence is not just about geographical coverage; it’s about providing enhanced efficiency, ensuring clients in…
The Proteas, South Africa’s men’s national cricket team, may wear homegrown Khoi Tech smart watches when they compete at the ICC One Day International World Cup. “We are close to finalising a deal to provide Cricket South Africa with our innovative Afriwatch1,” says Seati Moloi, CEO and Founder of Khoi Tech. “What impressed the Proteas’ Technical team is not only the ability to collect and report on group training data, but also sleeping data. This kind of information is critical for players’ recovery during tournaments.” Having only launched in October last year, a vote of confidence like this from the…
Pace Car Rental has raised sizeable debt on the JSE Private Placements (JPP) platform to refinance the business at a more favourable rate, while also investing in further fleet assets. JSE Private Placements – a subsidiary of JSE Limited – is an innovative way of raising private capital. To date, JPP has onboarded 36 deals raising over R6.1bn and investors who have over R18bn of capital to deploy. “JPP is an alternative way for companies and infrastructure projects to raise capital or attract investment. With this platform, we’re building a future fit capital market that pairs up private debt and…