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In Today's Open Letter

More used cars change hands in SA every year than new ones, and each one sold based on a valuation only the dealer can see — this local founder's making it visible to everyone…

In the first four months of 2026, 284'000 used light vehicles moved through local dealerships. Every one of them was priced off a number you weren't allowed to see.

For six decades, everyone worked off one number for each vehicle, and it was printed in a book: the Mead & McGrouther's Auto Dealers' Guide gave every vehicle model sold in SA an "M&M code" with a trade and a retail value next to it since the early sixties. But then, in October 2022, they stopped printing it, and the information moved into trade apps that you, as an average person, can't buy.

The dealer has that subscription to work off. You have a hunch.

It's something local founder Reza Desai only picked up on 'cos his brother was selling cars and kept hitting the same wall: no idea what to offer, no idea what a car goes for. So he decided to build it.

The local platform revealing that elusive trade number

RideReport is Reza's free platform that tells any South African what a used car is really worth before they sign on the dotted line.

Enter the make, model, year and mileage, and 10 seconds later you get the report a dealer's buyer would run, including an estimated price range built off public market data, faults costed in rands, and an inspection checklist

For R49 extra, you get the live industry valuation data, which you can take to the dealer and fight for a better price. Noice.

And all of this works the other way, too. When you’re selling your vehicle, you’re selling into a market that has more information about your own goods than you do. A report like this gives you vital intel BEFORE you even talk to the dealer for a trade-in or maybe, based on the information in the report, decide to opt for a private sale.

What we like: The buyer always knew less than the seller, but this number flips it, making buying or even selling a car a lot fairer in SA.

We're watching this space…

InteliGro is one of South Africa's leading crop solutions companies, with a holistic approach to agriculture that spans farmers, crop advisors and internal teams. But they needed to modernise how all three groups manage crop-related information, recommendations and transactions.

And it wasn't a simple app build.

They needed a custom digital ecosystem where farmers could access account data, purchase history and personalised crop recommendations. Where crop advisors could log assessments and generate quotes offline, in the field. And where an internal team could manage the whole thing from one place.

Octoco designed and built three interconnected platforms (each tailored to a different part of InteliGro's business) that today help farmers make better decisions, enable advisors to work more efficiently in the field, and give internal teams full visibility across the ecosystem.

And that’s just one example of how Octoco helps companies who’ve proven their tech survive the growth phase.

Who still hands out employee-of-the-month certificates?

Bonsela is a WhatsApp-native staff rewards tool for SA frontline teams. A manager types "/bonsela Lerato R50 great service" and airtime lands on Lerato's phone with the thank-you note attached, before the shift is even over.

But here's what's really clever:

✅ No app, no login, no training, works in WhatsApp.
✅ Weekly nudges remind managers who's overdue.
✅ Broadcast messages let the whole team celebrate.

What could you build on WhatsApp today?

🛂 R500 Visa Fee, But Hear Them Out. Home Affairs has gazetted a R500 ETA processing fee for the new 24-hour visa platform. Sounds like a cash grab, but non-visa-exempt travellers currently pay R1'975. Under the new system: R925. Government insourcing, halving costs. Comments open until 11 August.

🤖 Claude Broke Free. Security researchers showed that Claude Cowork can escape its sandbox and access Mac files it shouldn't be able to reach, joining OpenAI models that have done the same. Gulp. Excuse us, we're going to go review our Cowork setup right now.

🛡️ Microsoft's Cyber Beast. Microsoft has launched its first dedicated cyber AI model plus a new agentic cybersecurity system. Given MS's reputation for ridiculously cautious security measures, this one's probably going to be a little beast. Worth watching.

💳 Zoho Lands in SA. Zoho has launched its POS system in South Africa, adding to an already crowded payments and commerce space. Between Yoco, Paystack, stub and now Zoho, local payments operators should be taking notes.

🏆 Global Scale Enabled. Deel Local Payroll (formerly PaySpace) had the product but needed to scale globally. Cloud on Demand helped them become a Microsoft ISV partner, build on Azure and go from SA startup to Deel's R1bn+ acquisition target.*

📊 Reporting ≠ Insight. Your management pack tells you what happened last month, but can't tell you what to do on Thursday when a client asks for a discount. Closing the gap between reporting and actionable insights is the next big move for SA founders. Clarity is building exactly that.*

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

We featured where SA's future founders will come from, asking what's stopping you now that AI makes building cheap. And most here feel enabled…

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🧑‍💼 This article just gave me the permission I didn't know I needed. (50%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🛋️ I've been "someone should build this"-ing for 15 years. Fine. I'll do it. (42%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💀 I would, but my bond, my kids, and my car are holding me hostage. (8%)

Every time someone on your team pastes source code or client data into a free AI tool, they might be quietly destroying a trade secret. An SA IP lawyer shows us how to maintain AI productivity without leaks.

And it turns out, there are 4 specific steps to use AI without leaking your secrets.

☝ Send this to a founder whose whole team is pasting company data into free AI tools.

SA startup building with AI? Google's 2026 Startups Accelerator: South Africa offers 15 growth-stage ventures up to R1m in equity-free funding, Gemini access, cloud credits and 1-on-1 mentorship. Closes 28 Aug. Apply now.

African game studio? Google Play's Indie Games Fund for Africa offers $50k to $200k in equity-free capital to 10 studios across 32 countries. Closes 31 July. Apply now.

Need more than just advice? The Founder Collab bundles R40k+ in tools, cloud credits, legal sessions and a curated founder community into one membership for SA tech builders. Join now.

Want free AI skills training? Google Hustle Academy 2026 offers one-day bootcamps and 60-min webinars for SA entrepreneurs and SME owners. Zero cost. Register for free.

SA small business ready for the national stage? NSBC Small Business Awards are open, free entry for NSBC Platinum Members across 4 categories including Startup Champion of the Year. Gala on 12 November. See details.

Research team solving alt-protein taste? Coefficient Giving is investing up to $10M in R&D grants ($100k to $1M each) for off-flavour reduction, fat alternatives, egg replacement and fish replication. Closes 10 August. Apply now.

Want to promote your event/programme here? Let us know.

🧩 Tool to Try: Tellis turns your context into clear strategic stories for meetings and pitches.

🐯 That's Interesting: Tigers only look orange to our human eyes (colour receptors). Most of their prey, like deer and wild boars, see them as shades of green, which is great camouflage in a forest.

🏄 Next Level: Watch this guy finally land the world’s first surf foilboarding double backflip.

🔥 Wow Site: Infinite Craft lets you combine elements and see what you can create, like Little Alchemy but infinite. Warning: you will lose an hour.