Yookos, a newish social networking site aimed at people across Africa, has signed up 10m users in the three years since its commercial launch and appears set for further strong growth. The network, which began in Nigeria as a Christian-focused site, is now headquartered in Johannesburg and is targeting a broader audience interested in what its founders
Browsing: Start-ups
South African game developer Thoopid, of Snailboy fame, has released a new game called Tap the Coin. It is available for iOS (iPhone and iPad) and is free to download. An Android version has also just been launched. Tap the Coin requires the player to tap coins while bouncing forward to progress. It gets challenging when coins, which are
RainFin, a start-up promising to disrupt the financial services sector by allowing credit-worthy South Africans to engage in person-to-person lending, cutting out the banks in the process, has sold 49% of its equity to … a bank. The Cape Town-based company has sold the equity to Barclays Africa for an
A Johannesburg start-up, e-Mbizo Solutions, reckons there’s money to be made providing Internet access in South Africa’s underserviced areas, including rural parts of the country, using Wi-Fi technology. e-Mbizo is providing free Wi-Fi – with a bandwidth limit of 250MB/day – to people living in
Emerge Mobile, an ambitious start-up based in Umhlanga, north of Durban, has developed a smartphone-based mobile payments system similar to the US solution Square, and has secured certifications from international bodies. It now plans to launch
A Johannesburg-based start-up, SA Cardiosynthetics, has set itself the goal of providing heart-valve replacements to emerging markets that do not require the long-term administration of medication normally needed after this type of procedure. Co-founder Murray Legg explains that
Start-up 250gram, based in Cape Town, which lets Instagram users print images from their picture feed in a Polaroid-type format, has been launched, hoping to tap into the growing interest in the social image-sharing service. The company requires a minimum of 15 Instagram prints to be
A Johannesburg-based start-up is embracing the “second screen” trend of people using tablets or phones while watching television by creating a platform that enhances the experience of watching live sports. Puntr is a real-time social sports prediction game that lets soccer fanatics
Micket, a new Cape Town start-up, has developed a mobile ticketing solution that allows users to purchase tickets — and gain access to events — all using their cellphones. The Micket.me website can be accessed from a PC or mobile device, with payment made via credit card or EFT, after
Thirty-three-year-old Vivid Tjipura, a qualified state prosecutor, has scooped a R100 000 prize for a concept of using mobile airtime as an emergency form of payment for taxi fare. The service, called Airtaxi, advances airtime to minibus taxi commuters if they run out