Wanna see something cool {{ FIRSTNAME | there }}? Meet Gus, the most expensive dinosaur ever. The T. rex sold for $50M (R817 million) last Tuesday, over 5 times the price of the largest rex, Sue. 🦖

In This Open Letter

Full disclosure: The Open Letter owns the startup we’re writing about today. It’s not sponsored content; it’s worse. We’re writing about something we built, and you’ve been warned…

If you've been to one of our events, you'll know we take them seriously. Founder dinners in Cape Town, FinTech roundtables in Joburg, 180-plus people packed into a Cape Town venue. Events became a real pillar of this business.

But every single one of our events ran on ticketing tools that made us want to lie down in a dark room: clunky checkout flows, non-existent sponsor reporting, event pages that looked like they were designed in 2011, because some of them were.

So, on the 4th of January 2026, Renier sat down to try his hand at building software with the help of AI. The thought running through his mind: "What is the one thing we use that's super annoying and doesn't offer our community a great experience?" Top of that list, ticketing apps.

What started as a "let's see what Lovable can do" turned into the very first iteration of The Open Letter Events — our own ticketing solution. We ran a pilot event with 10 people in Renier's hometown of Stellenbosch, iterated, fixed, and broke it plenty of times along the way (we were our own angriest customer). 

But the proof was in the pudding when we ran our first big event of the year entirely on the new app. 180+ attendees, no issues, a great user experience, and excellent control over the things other apps don't allow or don't focus on.

It worked.

Could this be a business?

We showed the app, and particularly the event organiser portal, to friends over at Innovation City Cape Town and The Lekker Network, and both were very keen to use it.

Which made us think: perhaps we could finally create not only a great experience for people organising business events, but also a single place where people can find the best business events.

Traditionally, business events have been hosted on Quicket, hidden between school concerts and rock festivals. Some sit on Luma, which runs on payment rails that don't properly support South African organisers getting paid. The rest are scattered everywhere.

So we built a place where events worth showing up for can live.

The Open Letter Events becomes Radi

And yesterday, radi.co.za issued its 1,000th ticket! Serving more than 850 unique customers in a short space of time.

But we'll be the first to say that’s still early promise, not proof. Whether this becomes a real business depends on organisers outside our circle choosing it over what they already use.

What this means for anyone building right now

Radi was pretty much a one-person, part-time build over the last six months. From concept to coding to design to support. AI has changed the game, not only for testing app ideas, but for launching and growing them.

We expect to see more and more of these products pop up as people build in spaces they're experienced in and passionate about. The solo-run tech startup is a reality, and there has never been a more exciting time to be building a tech company.

Time to lock in.

We've teamed up with Sizwe Nxumalo of 3 Capital Ventures on a new monthly series about raising money in South Africa: the honest version, from the side of the table that usually just says "maybe" and goes quiet.

First up, the question most founders skip straight past. Not how to raise VC, but whether you should at all. Sizwe breaks down what kind of company venture capital is actually built for, what it costs you once you say yes, and why walking away is sometimes the sharper move.

If you're anywhere near a raise, start here.

📈 Karooooo Smashes Records. Cartrack parent Karooooo has posted record quarterly subscriber growth, 142'472 net additions (+70%), with SA surging 92%. Total base: 2.8 million. Subscription revenue: R1.35bn. Expanded marketing when economies stress and investment in tech is what paid off here, proving again: when things get tough, you need to spend MORE, not less, to succeed.

⚡ Africa's Grid Is the AI Battleground. Schneider Electric says the question isn't how much electricity Africa generates, it's whether the grid can handle AI data centres, EVs and distributed renewables. They already supply power infrastructure for 38% of Africa's data centre capacity. Isn't this what we've been telling our governments for years now?

🍔 Prosus Plays the Long Game. Uber has launched a $14.8bn takeover bid for Delivery Hero (R242bn), and Prosus has agreed to sell its ~17% stake. This once again proves our assertion: success in food delivery means mastering logistics. By trading minority shares in a fragmented delivery company for full ownership of a concentrated UK/Germany/Netherlands operation that owns its own rails, Prosus is positioning to end on the winning side of the delivery game.

🛒 BNPL Hits Bash. PayJustNow has brought buy-now-pay-later to TFG's fast-growing Bash platform, with three interest-free instalments or a 12-month plan for bigger buys. There's been recent rumblings that SARS and SARB are not happy with BNPL models in SA; getting in with big corporates like TFG is probably what'll cement it fully in the market.

🌍 Go Global, Stay Local. Need to structure for international investors, protect your IP or set up a holding company? Finance Isle of Man connects SA founders with the right advisors to build proper offshore structures, no pressure, no pitch, just the right introductions.*

📬 Newsletters That Don't Die. Most internal newsletters die by month three. The Newsletter Company builds and runs your end-to-end: strategy, content, growth, platform. Your team stays focused on the business.*

Yesterday, we featured Bonsela’s WhatsApp staff rewards, asking how your company actually recognises good work. And would you believe most here have never been thanked…

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🏅 Full system, points and rewards, the lot (15%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🍕 Pizza and a Friday shout-out, sorted (19%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📧 The "Great work, fam!" mass email (15%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 😬 We keep meaning to set something up (22%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🦗 Never been thanked at work before (29%)

☕ Java Team Lead

🔌 Senior Backend Developer

🛠️ Senior Product Engineer

🧠 Senior Data Engineer

💻 Oracle Software Developer

🔌 Senior Backend Developer

We asked one of SA's biggest founder network CEOs what the most underrated marketing strategy in SA is, and her answer is eye-opening for any SA founder.

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

🛒 Tool to Try: Ctruh Studio turns a single product upload into a full immersive commerce experience with a 3D viewer and AR try-on, and no app, SDK or headset required.

🌑 That's Interesting: The girl who suggested the name "Pluto" when it was discovered in 1930, aged 11, lived long enough to see it demoted to a "dwarf planet" in 2006. Harsh.

🐦 Next Level: You will not believe what Henry is.

🚗 Wow Site: CarSized, a simple interactive tool to compare vehicle dimensions side by side. Weirdly satisfying.

Did you hear?… our beloved Cape Town startup now only has 2 weeks of runway left to become a unicorn. Will they make it? Find out: There's a new comic strip every Friday, only in The Open Letter.

Got a favourite? Meet all the South of Series A characters here.

☝ Send this to a friend you'd build a startup with. 🦄