SA tech start-ups that look set to deliver in 2017

15 Mar

New start-ups, some would say, are what shape the future of a nation or community and we couldn’t agree more. You know, those favourite apps you use that bring convenience to your daily life…that new online service that makes what were once chores, quick and easy?

Grassroot entrepreneurs were hard at work in 2016 gearing up to self-fund their own business. Those are the type of start-ups and progressive ideas that our country needs, and it’s easy to see that 2017 is already beginning to demonstrate a wealth of fabulous new tech start-ups that will rock your world! Let’s take a brief look at a few of them below:

Snode – it’s war on cyber-crime in SA, thanks to Snode, a new app that hit the market in late 2016. The app is designed to detect suspicious behaviour as it is happening rather than after the fact. Snode can detect what’s going on even in situations where firewalls and other security features can’t. According to founder of Snode and cyber security expert, Nithen Naidoo, Snode is designed to help IT professionals become proactive in setting preventative measures in place instead of just being reactive when an attack happens.

uGoMyWay – this app is aimed at reducing traffic congestion in Cape Town’s buzzing city centre. As you might have guessed, the app connects drivers and passengers, but not in the same way as the Uber app. This app isn’t aimed at making money. It’s aimed at encouraging commuters to carpool. Users can save their regular scheduled routes (home to work and back etc.) and when two people’s routes are matched, a chat function puts them in touch to make carpooling arrangements.

Carter – it’s a match made in heaven…for cars that is! Carter is a new SA start-up app that works much like Tinder, except instead of matching two people looking for the same things in the same vicinity, it matches buyers and sellers of cars in the same vicinity. Swiping left and right can help you to sift through those that you like and don’t like and before you know it (and without having to spend a great deal on phone calls and driving around) you can find the car just for you – a match on wheels!

iKhokha – is a payment gateway solution for small business and those living in an informal or rural area. The mobile card payment started off strong as a pilot in KZN and is now set to be made available across the country. The system, a secure reader plugs into a mobile device to connect with the iKhokha app which then enables small businesses in any area, even underserviced and outlying areas to accept and process card payments from their smartphone.

Deliver 2 Me – this is an app that promises to deliver all of your online orders to wherever you happen to be in SA. It’s convenient, especially for those who miss deliveries because they are on holiday or travelling. The concept of this service is not to deliver to an address on a map (where the recipient has to wait around in one place all day), but to deliver to actual people, wherever they might find themselves at the time of delivery.

Of course, these are just a few of the top tech start-ups that we would like to see taking the SA market by storm. According to a funding report by Disrupt Africa’s Tech Start-ups, in 2016 alone, African technology start-ups were responsible for raising funding in excess of $129 million. The positive growth in the number of companies securing funding rose by 17%.

As always, if you are using an application or online service, make sure that it’s safe and secure. Find out if they encrypt data and how they handle your information (are third parties allowed access to your personal information?).

Let us know if you have encountered any cool new apps and start-ups that could prove useful. We’d love to hear about them.

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