3 Local Tech Startups to Watch Out For

Tech startups are a dime a dozen in South Africa, we’re a country of entrepreneurs and our tech industry is booming, leading to a multitude of young businesses trying to leave their mark on the industry. Many of these startups have been featured in the news headlines this year, but we’ve picked our top 3 that we think are worth following closely in the coming months.

From a drag-and-drop website builder to SA’s first app-based bank, these startups are making waves in the South African tech space:

Digitise

Combining a hosting and website-building platform with a fully-integrated CRM (Customer Relationship Management) back-end and marketing tools, Digitise is an all-in-one solution to get your business off the ground. So instead of using ten different companies (with half of it probably being outsourced to India) to get what you need, Digitise does it all at a fraction of the cost.

The online platform gives you full control. So, instead of registering your domain with a hosting company, struggling to build a website on WordPress, hiring a designer, fumbling your way trying to keep track of your customers on a badly laid-out Excel spreadsheet, and then attempting a marketing plan, you can simply use Digitise to make running your business (and life) a whole lot easier.

Digitise offers a full name and domain registration process, and after that, a slick drag-and-drop website builder is at your finger-tips. And if you want to get going quicker, there are even SEO-optimised website templates to choose from – whether you’re looking to make a simple business website or online store. If you’re not the hands-on type, the website can be designed for you while still giving you full control to edit and maintain your website after it goes live!

To find out more about Digitise click here.

OneSpark

This new age life insurer has just stepped out of stealth mode and into the limelight, with world-first products aimed at uplifting and empowering South Africans to lead better lives. By embedding advanced technology and a client-centric approach into its processes, they’re creating an insurance experience that is smart, quick, simple and super affordable.

Founded by actuaries Greg Smith and Josh Kaplan, OneSpark offers innovative insurance products for the lowest-earning and most vulnerable members of society. They found that there has been little-to-no-innovation in the insurance space for middle-to-lower-income earners in South Africa, with product choice typically restricted to funeral cover alone despite the fact that this market segment has their own complex financial needs and experience severe financial consequences if they experience a life-changing event.

OneSpark Insurance has flipped the traditional funeral cover concept on its head, with its Millionaire Funeral Plan. It’s a Funeral Plan. Just a million times better. You get R50,000 if you claim and R1 million cash if you don’t. From only 99 cents a day. They’ve also created world-first, patented, products that allow you to protect your key living expenses if you pass away or suffer a disability, with massive payouts if you don’t claim which you can use to change your family’s lives forever.

Other innovative plans include the Dream Car plan (from only R1.50 a day) to help buy your dream car, the University Wallet Plan (from only R3 per day) to help protect your children’s education, and the Five-Star Food Plan (from only R1.50 per day) to help you put food on the table.

For further information visit the OneSpark website.

Sash

A first in SA, and the world, SASH Controller for indoor growers brings much-needed innovation to the world of indoor growing. Whether its vegetables, seedlings, or cannabis, indoor growing is a technical process that requires specialised equipment. Up until recently, growers have been stuck in the ‘old school’ way of doing things with timers and relays. Previously when growing indoors, devices like lights, fans and heaters had to be plugged into timers and relays to make basic decisions based on a single condition. This coupled with not knowing what is going on in your grow tent while you’re not present, has kept new growers away from starting up.

But SASH is looking to change all that. The new SASH Controller for indoor growers, allows you to be present wherever you are, visually see inside your grow tent, have the opportunity to set rules and monitor as well as keep track and react to your grow. All from the comfort of…well, anywhere really.

Founded by Ruan de Kock, a passionate inventor and software developer in Cape Town, together with Application Frameworks Pty Ltd, the innovative product is a physical IOT controller developed with one job in mind — to control and keep track of your indoor growing activities. The SASH controller is a physical device which you place with your grow, consisting of 6 plugs connected to a power outlet that can be switched on and off by means of rules you apply via your profile on the SASH website or the SASH app on your phone. It’s the perfect marriage of a physical product, with high-end technology and software development.

For information visit the SASH website.