10 South African Entrepreneurs Breaking Barriers In Tech
10 South African Entrepreneurs Breaking Barriers In Tech. These South African entrepreneurs are breaking barriers in the tech industry by innovating in areas traditionally underserved or overlooked. Here are ten South African entrepreneurs breaking barriers in the tech industry:
Thapelo Nthite
Founder of Botlhale AI, which provides tech services in all official South African languages, breaking language barriers in technology. The company is breaking language barriers for African businesses and their customers by unleashing the power of human language technologies in African languages. Its Natural Language Processing tools make this possible by enabling seamless digital interactions.
Katlego Maphai
Katlego is the co-founder and CEO of Yoco. Yoco is an African technology company that builds tools and services to help small businesses get paid, run their business better, and grow. Yoco offers card payment acceptance, software-driven business tools and working capital.
Jessica Boonstra
Founder of Yebo Fresh, an e-commerce platform focused on township economies. Yebo Fresh is a multi- award-winning eCommerce platform, focusing on South Africa’s Townships. Yebo Fresh started in a Hout Bay garage and has grown exponentially since its inception and is now serving over 25 townships in greater Cape Town and Gauteng. The company proudly empowers entrepreneurs and community organisations with easier access to quality goods and services through smart technology.
Dacod Magagula
Co-founder of Foondamate, an AI-powered educational tool assisting learners. FoondaMate helps students access quality study material and knowledge quickly and affordably using AI on WhatsApp. The company builds chatbots that bring quality study material and curated internet search to messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Its goal is to help the 300M+ students currently unable to use the internet to study, or struggling to find useful information, access the information they need to succeed.
Vincent Maposa
Founder of Wetility, which provides innovative solar energy solutions. The company consists of a team of visionaries, entrepreneurs, engineers and financial experts who are passionate about innovative energy solutions. Wetility enables people to smartly generate solar power on their rooftop, then seamlessly store, release and monitor clean energy to their home or business.
Thomas Brennan
Co-founder of Franc, a digital investment platform simplifying access to investments. The company offers users access to a leading cash (money market) fund offering higher interest rate returns than a bank savings account and an equity fund that tracks the best of the stock market.
Rapelang Rabana
Founder of Rekindle Learning, which offers digital learning tools. Rekindle Learning is committed to empowering people to adapt to the changing world of work. At its core, a resilient and adaptable organisation must also be a learning organisation. Rekindle Learning enables companies to repackage business-specific knowledge and organizational know-how from static unengaging material to compelling, mobile, bite-sized learning experiences. Using sound learning principles and adaptive learning algorithms, the company’s learning experience platform is able to drive behaviour change towards business objectives.
James Paterson
He is the co-founder and CEO of Aerobotics, a data analytics company that uses imagery and machine learning algorithms to measure yields and optimize crop performance for the global fruit and nut supply chain. At Aerobotics, he leads a team of talented engineers, data scientists, and agronomists who share the vision of providing intelligent tools to feed the world. The company has developed a platform that integrates drones, satellites, and ground sensors to collect and analyze high-resolution data on crop health, pests, diseases, and water stress. It has also built a robust machine learning pipeline that leverages deep learning, computer vision, and geospatial analysis to generate actionable insights and recommendations for farmers and agribusinesses.
Mixo Fortune Ngoveni
Mixo Fortune Ngoveni is the CEO and Co-Founder of Geekulcha, a tech platform that connects ICT students to the world of technology and provides them with exposure and opportunities to showcase their skills. With over 10 years of experience in the tech industry, Mixo is passionate about empowering and supporting the tech community, especially makers, hackers, students, and innovators.
Tshegofatso Dludla
She is the CEO of RoboSTEAM. The company offers hands-on interactive robotics classes for young students. Students learn about the basics of electronics and the magic of robotics. Thereafter with the basic understanding of robotics the company uses the wonder of STEAM to teach students how to code.
