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So over it? A creator posted an IndieGogo page for the world’s first laser-powered mosquito gun. Like a turret, it’ll scan for the little bloodsuckers and gun down 30 per second. Hope it’s funded by summer. 🦟

Psst: Wanna tell us about your startup? Post a job? Publish some news? We’re all about championing SA startups, so we created a place you can do just that — share with us here.

There’s a massive awakening to the power of the informal economy, and today we look at a startup making a bold move to formalise a formerly informal housing market sector…

You don’t have to look far to see South Africa’s housing crisis. Even with a formal job at minimum wage, just R4’740 a month, finding a place to rent is nearly impossible.

A Property24 search across all of Gauteng shows just 145 listings under R2’000 per month. But bump that up to between R5’000 and R10’000, and over 9’000 results pop up. The problem? More than half of South Africa’s workforce earns R5’200 or less.

So, where are people living?

For millions, the answer is township backrooms. Nearly half the country lives in townships, and the backroom rental industry in these areas is estimated to be worth R20 billion per year. Yet the entire market remains offline – no verified listings, no formal leases and little protection for either tenants or landlords.

Massive problem, massive scale; this smells like a bold opportunity for a startup to undertake.

Who’s working to solve it

RoomKing is building the infrastructure to do just that. Launched in 2023 by Modicai Mnculwane, the platform already hosts over 115’000 listings and acts as a bridge between township landlords, agents and tenants. Users can browse rooms, connect directly, sign leases soon, make secure payments, and access legal templates.

Local agents (often informal brokers already embedded in the community) help verify listings and match tenants on the ground. The model keeps the trust, which is a key component of the rental experience, but adds the all-important structure around it. 

Tenants can find a small space for anywhere from a few hundred rands to several thousand, while landlords can generate an income. Smart.

A challenge they will have to overcome is the background and affordability checks, which are way more complicated in the informal space. But nail that, and this could be a big business. We are watching this space…

Helping tenants and landlords is a big deal

🌿 R17M Boost for Green Jobs. South Africa's National Business Initiative just bagged a hefty R17 million grant from the African Development Bank to jazz up the green skills of local youth. This injection targets building a workforce ready for green energy, and involves 30 top CEOs and various sectors. With a focus on renewable energies, the initiative builds on a $3.4 billion legacy in SA's energy sector. We love to see it.

🦄 Unicorn Frenzy. With AI sparking an investor stampede, 2025 has so far birthed a whopping 36 tech unicorns. Beyond the predictable AI boom, surprise industries like satellite tech and blockchain trading are also galloping into the billion-dollar pasture. From Loft Orbital’s space ventures to Kalshi's prediction markets, the diversity is as stellar as these startups' valuations. How many of these have you heard of?

🍔 McSmartID & Chips. South Africa's Home Affairs shakes things up with restaurant-style self-service kiosks aimed at trimming queues and speeding up service delivery. With 75 terminals already acquired, citizens can now handle birth, death, and marriage certificates, or even collect smart ID cards and passports faster. Will these self-service kiosks also be connected to the perpetual offline system?

⭐ Property Rush to Paradise! South Africans are flocking to Mauritius, scooping up property like bees to honey. The tranquil island, dubbed Africa's most peaceful nation, saw real estate investment hit 24 billion rupees—a juicy 13% rise. With France and South Africa leading the charge, Mauritius plans to warm even more wallets by enticing the ultra-wealthy. Nice. Can we get a 14-day free trial before taking the plunge?

😎 The Stack. Founders need tools and suppliers they can trust. Check out our Founder’s Stack with cloud services and solutions for Azure, AWS, security and AI by Cloud on Demand, 90% off your first 6 months’ accounting with Xero, plus loads more vital startup tools & services.

Need fresh startup ideas daily? HN Slop scrapes the Hacker News front page and feeds it into GPT to generate new startup prompts on the fly. It’s weird, rough and strangely inspiring — a nice scroll if you’re in ideation mode or just want to stretch your thinking. Try it here.

When do you need more than a bookkeeper? They’re great for when you start, but when you want funding or robust growth (i.e. when things get serious, you need a CFO). But how do you know when to make the leap? Join our LinkedIn Live session on Wednesday, 10 July at 12:00 for real founder examples of when to take the leap. Register here.

Struggling with the startup paradox? I.e. you need cash to refine and build traction, but investors want to see traction first before they commit. Founder Jeff Nelson (Blavity, AfroTech, Cinchapi) just dropped Hacking the Startup Paradox — a dead-simple, practical guide to breaking out of that early-stage trap. It’s not widely available in SA stores yet, but you can check it out on his site or grab it on Amazon.

Last Friday, we wrote about DStv unbundling SuperSport and most want to know how much they’ll charge…

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🏃 Too little, too late. I’ve made other plans. (21%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 💰 Cool. But how much are they going to charge? (53%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🐴 Nice one. As long as they include sports like Hobbyhorsing. (4%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤷 I don't watch any of that sportsing stuff. (10%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🧐 Goldmine guaranteed to unlock shareholder value. (12%)

Your 2 cents…

Ooh, so you must know all the best pubs in town by now, eh Ben? 🍻

Guess that makes it a faster way to find your F1. 🏎️🏁

Agreed, Jeffrey. But curious: which 3-4 channels are they? 🕵

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