Gaining momentum {{ FIRSTNAME | there }}? This weekend, Indonesia became the first Asian country to ban social media for under-16s. That makes 7 countries with bans in place (or incoming) and 11 working to get there. Should we be doing something? 🤷‍♀️

In This Open Letter

SA spends R33 billion a year treating obesity-related disease, and GLP-1 medications are about to go generic without a proper support system – this doctor wants to save SA from itself…

South Africa is the most obese country in Africa (nearly 1 in 3 adults). And by 2035, that's projected to be 1 in 2, driving type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnoea and depression, costing public healthcare R33 billion annually — 15% of government health spend.

And until the end of 2025, we had zero official clinical guidelines for treating it. Not one.

The new drugs are here, but the support isn't

By now, everyone’s heard of Ozempic (and perhaps even the controversy around it).

Those appetite-suppressing GLP-1 medications (Ozempic and Wegovy) are already massive overseas (1 in 8 US adults are on them), and they are already being prescribed at scale in SA. Now, the patent on their active ingredient expired (20 March), so expect ultra-cheap generic versions at your pharmacy soon.

Here’s the thing: The controversy around Ozempic stems from how the drug was initially distributed in the US: Patients just get a script and "see you in two months," and zero guidance on nutrition, exercise, side effects, or what happens when they stop taking it (which is super NB, by the way, GLP-1s is NOT for life).

The data shows that the medications can be very effective, but proper medical guidance on them is absolutely vital.

And one local doctor is making it his mission to ensure SA uses it wisely…

The local platform closing the Ozempic knowledge gap

Flourish is a doctor-led digital health platform built for the GLP-1 era. Founder Dr Patrick Bennett is a physician who spent years watching the downstream consequences of metabolic disease and decided to move upstream.

Flourish pairs GLP-1 therapy with a 52-week structured programme: AI-powered meal tracking, resistance training protocols, an in-app AI health companion called Fia (for that 2 AM side-effect question), and access to human health coaches via WhatsApp.

We spoke to Dr Bennet, and he gave us the analogy of just like eating a block of butter while taking cholesterol meds won't fix your cholesterol, GLP-1s might make staying in a calorie deficit possible, but nutrition, resistance training, and habit formation still have to happen alongside them.

Flourish is already partnered with fertility units, bariatric surgery centres, sleep clinics and multiple surgical specialists across SA — with eyes on the US, where your options are a generic tracking app or a $1,500/month premium programme. Nothing in between.

We're watching this space…

We asked a team of seasoned SA lead generation specialists what it takes to make it to the top — the answer comes from raw experience 🐕…

Don’t miss all the extra operator interviews and insights content we do on our social channels — come enjoy the vibez.

🍗 SA’s Favourite Fast Foods. Chicken is the undisputed heavyweight in SA’s fast food wars, with SA eating more than twice as much chicken from quick-service restaurants (QSRs) like KFC and Chicken Licken as pizza. Yum yum.

💼 “You’ve Reached My Business Line”. WhatsApp just launched multi-account support for iOS, allowing users to toggle between 2 numbers (sans the 2nd phone), for easy switching between business and personal lines. Lekker man.

🛟 Throwing The Post Office a Lifeline. The business rescue practitioners dealing with the SA Post Office have received 95 submissions from prospective private partners to help turn things around for the struggling SOE. Very cool to see.

🚦Follow The Leader. Thanks to all the new autonomous vehicles on US roads, researchers are proposing we give traffic lights a 4th colour to help keep traffic flowing. We’d settle for people to start using their indicators in SA, to be honest…

📈 Pipeline Switched On. Growing SA software consultants IQ Business needed leads but didn’t have the in-house muscle to run effective campaigns. So Cloud on Demand funded and ran full social media campaigns, turning marketing spend into qualified leads and real sales.*

* From our partners. Find all the best service providers for your business in our Founder Stack.

What if your crypto assistant could actually execute trades — not just talk about them?

Binance Ai Pro (Beta) is a new AI-powered agent that plugs into your Binance account and handles spot orders, futures, leveraged borrowing, market analysis and custom strategies via natural language. You type. It trades.

The safety net: it creates a separate sub-account with no withdrawal permissions, so the AI works with your money but can't move it out. Early access is $9.99/month with a 7-day free trial.

AI-assisted trading carries real risk — but if you've been curious, this is one of the first major platforms making it accessible.

See what it’s all about →

Disclaimer: Digital asset prices can be volatile. The value of your investment may go down or up and you may not get back the amount invested. You are solely responsible for your investment decisions and Binance is not liable for any losses you may incur. Not financial advice. For more information, see our Terms of Use and Risk Warning.

Last week, we showed how to use Grocify to find the best grocery prices, asking what you actually drop on groceries per month. Most sit between 5 and 10k…

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🧺 Under R5'383.81 — 24% 

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🛒 R5'383.81 – R10'000 — 43%

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🧾 R10'000 – R15'000 — 17%

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😬 Over R15'000 — 11% 

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤷 I'm not sure — 5%

Your 2 cents…

Wowser. Send us the name, Enrico — we’d love to take a closer look at them. 👀

Hardware Hackathon – 15 Apr, CPT: Octoco’s one-day build sprint with teams tackling “City of the Future” through rapid prototyping and testing. Apply now.

South African Startup Week – 15–17 Apr, CPT: A three-day, founder-first event covering inspiration, hands-on building and networking. Get tickets.

How AI Is Shaping Fintech Across Africa – 16 Apr, JHB: Shola Akinlade on scaling fintech and AI across African markets. Get your tickets.

What Changes Legally When You Start Growing – 17 Apr, Online: Jacques Stemmet on the legal shifts when startups scale. Get your spot.

Bots & Bubbles: How AI Rewires Financial Services – 23 Apr, CPT: AI in fraud, payments and risk — with leaders from Payfast, TransUnion and Orca Fraud. Get tickets (R50).

🧩 Tool to Try: KeepTabz keeps tabs on what your competitors are doing.

🐦 That's Interesting: Puffins (those Atlantic seabirds) have fluorescent beaks that literally glow under UV light. Nature's been running a secret rave.

🕷️ Next Level: Watch this Venus Flytrap straight up eat a Black Widow spider.

🛰️ Wow Site: Rocket Mapper gives real-time satellite globe tracking, Starlink, ISS and more.

🎨 Work Smarter: Vibe-coded websites are everywhere — and so are the cringe gradients. YC's Aaron Epstein and Notion Calendar creator Raphael Schaad review real sites and show you how to avoid the common mistakes.