Hot noise {{ FIRSTNAME }}? A startup is using sound waves to combat fires: apparently, sound can affect the oxygen molecules in a way that they stop feeding the flames. Wowser. 🔥
In This Open Letter
Mega Moves: Clean hydrogen power, right here in SA.
Local: Taxi Wi-Fi rollout & is Starlink finally coming?
Global: How Google translates directly into your ears.
Personal Finance: 5 Quick money wins for year-end.
Max Growth: A hack for instant EU market access.
Happy Holidays!
From tomorrow until 9 January, we will only be coming your way twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.
And we have a unique mix of holiday content, including In-depth founder stories of some of SA’s greatest scale-ups and collections of best-ofs, big winners of 2025 and look-aheads to 2026.
Have an awesome Christmas 🎄🍪🎁
TRENDING NOW
Saving SA Exports with a Mega Hydrogen Play
SA heavy industry is about to get slapped with crippling carbon taxes – but this venture’s gonna nullify it while tapping us into a R10 trillion global market…
Just as optimism over SA’s economy’s peaking (low inflation, fiscal improvement, positive growth), the EU prepares to phase in its CBAM policy (1 Jan 2026). SA industries, from tyres to metals and food processing, are facing a massive 18-22% carbon tax on exports to the EU and US soon.
Even the industries exempt from Trump’s SA tariffs will now be needled, eroding up to 50% of the value of some of our biggest industries 😳. For example, at €40 to €120 tax per ton of steel, every SA shipment (usually on a 50k ton Supramax vessel) will have a hefty R39 million to R118 million export tax on it. Eina.
Hmm, not sure that’s a win, Jeff…
Why? Even if you replace all your vehicles and machinery with EVs, you’re still charging them with diesel or Eskom power (embedded carbon), which the EU classes as a Tier 1 effort. They want Tier 2, which, from an SA perspective, is an almost sci-fi requirement…
The hydrogen game
Reaching Tier 2 efficiency requires our industries use ultra-green energy for production: solar (not at scale yet), wind (just not working), hydrothermal (we don’t have those)...
One source that’s already viable is Hydrogen. It’s super clean: Combine hydrogen with oxygen and boom, you get electricity (no combustion required, and the only by-product is hot water ☕), which is why hydrogen generation is a R3.4 trillion industry (R10 trillion by 2034).
The only problem? SA currently only has dirty “grey” hydrogen from Sasol, which works with combustion, so incredibly high emissions and probably little use for CBAM. The capability we need is called “green hydrogen”, which has a major catch-22: it requires immense energy (50-55kW per kg) to produce, so we don’t have that capability locally.
Turns out, though, we have something 10 times better…
The local venture bringing SA clean hydrogen
Burnstar produces certified “green”-comparable hydrogen, requiring 90% less energy to produce (just 5.6kW per kg), in a mobile unit fitted and maintained for you, right on your site. The best part? It produces clean hydrogen for you at a 1:1 cost to diesel, with no CAPEX.
Check it out:
It all started 5 years ago, when Burnstar founder Dr Johan Brand (PhD Chemical Engineering), who’d spent 15 years at Sasol, developed a unique chemical method (no combustion, zero emissions, no water use) for breaking natural gas particles, like methane, for example, into clean carbon and hydrogen.
The result is a proprietary liquid metal bubble column reactor that produces 1) hydrogen for energy and 2) a chemically safe carbon powder that can be used for sequestration in agriculture or as a reductant in metal production. Wow.
No CAPEX and boosting SA industry
Even more amazing is the business model behind it. Burnstar Ops Director David de Mattos explains that they want to come in and add real value for SA enterprises, so they offer Burnstar as a Hardware-as-a-Service rental model. Got a factory? They’ll deliver a 1kg/hour to 5 tons/day capacity reactor to your site with no CAPEX, help you source methane (if needed) and maintain it for you, all at a cost 1:1 comparable with diesel.
Wanna see it for yourself? Ping David, he set up a demonstration reactor in Germiston, and SA industries are welcome to come see it in action.
Core to Burnstar’s entire strategy is helping boost SA industry and economy by: 1) giving locals a clean and affordable way to meet CBAM requirements and 2) exporting the technology (they already hold patents in 43 countries) but keeping the IP and production firmly inside SA borders.
Helping SA heavy industry do better, cleaner business? Yes, we’re watching this space.
FROM OUR FRIENDS AT DOMMISSE ATTORNEYS
Why do VC deals in South Africa take forever?
Because every law firm has its own documents.
Yet, in the US and UK, they have standardised templates for deals, meaning faster closings and less legal bloat.
In SA, though, we’re still redlining Word docs for weeks. Slowing everything down.
That’s why our good friends at Dommisse Attorneys worked with SAVCA to create open-source model investment documents for South Africa, so our ventures can unlock faster deals, more clarity and reduced cost when it comes to funding.
Want in?
IN SHORT
While you were weekending…
🚐 Quantum Leap. Local free-to-use minibus taxi connectivity service, Sebenza Wi-Fi, is set to scale its reach from around 7’500 taxis and 1’000 buses to a national footprint thanks to its partnership with Toyota that will see its hotspots installed into all new Quantums. Lekker man, Wesley and Sebenza team.
🛰️ Starlink Incoming. SA’s Minister of Digital Communications and Technologies, Solly Malatsi, has issued a formal policy directive to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) that would see it drop its strict equity requirements in favour of a model that welcomes multinationals like Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Very interesting…
🍊 How You Like Them, Oranges? The Orange Corners Innovation Fund’s GROW programme has opened applications to youth-owned, impactful, innovative SA startups. The programme will allow for funding of between R200,000 and R1m as a 50% grant and 50% interest-free loan payable over 18 months. Nice one.
🎧 Real-Time Translations Direct to Your Ears. Google is rolling out real-time translations right in your headphones and bringing advanced Gemini capabilities to Google Translate to expand its language-learning tools in the Translate app. Just imagine eavesdropping on those elevator convos.
✅ The Stack. Founders need reliable tools, so our Founder’s Stack gives you cloud services by Cloud on Demand, Africa-ready payroll & HR via Deel Local Payroll powered by PaySpace and loads more.
LOVE IT?
Every time you share The Open Letter, the stars shine a little brighter (and we give you cool stuff, too.)
PERSONAL FINANCE FOR ENTREPRENEURS
Your 30-minute year-end money declutter
A quick financial clean-up now can save you money, stress, and admin in 2026…
Cancel unused subscriptions: Scan your statements and app store. Cut anything you haven’t used in 90 days.
Close dormant accounts: Shut down old accounts quietly charging fees and simplify your setup.
Audit your investment and insurance fees: Check what you’re paying in hidden commissions or asset-based fees. Small changes can save thousands over time.
Delete outdated savings pockets: Close finished goals, rename active ones, and give every rand a purpose again.
Review your insurance beneficiaries: Make sure the right people are listed. Life changes and updated paperwork should be reflected, too.
Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only and should not be considered personalised financial, investment, tax or legal advice.
Doshguide proudly sponsors Personal Finance for Entrepreneurs.
Doshguide, SA’s first flat-fee financial advice platform, helps entrepreneurs take control of their personal finances and build a clear path to financial freedom by keeping our advisors 100% unbiased and focused on you.
GROWTH HACKS WITH OUR FRIENDS IN ESTONIA
Want to scale your tech business globally?
The EU is a startup-friendly $18.8 trillion marketplace, but most South African companies are locked out with heavy bureaucracy and high taxes, until now…
The country of Estonia has invited South Africans who want to go global to incorporate an EU company 100% online with its e-residency campaign. You don’t have to go anywhere, stay in SA but run your company virtually (perfect for SaaS) from here and get: an EU business address, the ability to trade in Euros, instant access to EU funds, grants, VCs, investors, banks, etc.
Tallinn, Estonia
The growth hack
Estonia charges 0% corporate tax on profits you invest back into the company (you only get taxed once you extract profits as dividends), so you can reinvest profit into growth for years and years, and no one will bat an eye: no tax, legally.
No red tape
To make it really worth your while, Estonia has removed the red tape and built a 100% online system for everything: Register your EU company in just 30 minutes and do all your compliance (digital signatures on legal documents, annual report submissions) 100% online.
It’s like geographical arbitrage
456 South African “e-residents” have already started 149 companies in Estonia, so it really works (and there’s a community of peers already). And if you hurry and apply before 18 December, they’ll fast-track your access.
WHAT YOU SAID
Good living…
Last Friday, we showed you FindHomes’ awesome property finding tech, asking what you look for in a dream home. For most, it’s about the location…
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💰 Price (2%)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 📍 Where it’s located (61%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🔥 Spiral staircases, fire pits or a veggie garden (5%)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🙅 I’m not buying in 2025 or 2026 (30%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🛌 Number of bedrooms (2%)
Your 2 cents…
“Schools close by and proximity to shopping complex and most importantly safety.”
Sounds like the ultimate dream neighbourhood, Neo! 🏠❤️
“When I’m ready to buy I’m looking for max property square footage per rand outside a metro.”
That’s setting yourself up for a good deal, KC! We like it. 🏆
AROUND THE WEB
Blow off some steam…
💡 Tool to Try: Can We Talk helps couples communicate better.
📖 That’s Interesting: A Christmas Carol was a bestseller, but Charles Dickens made little money because he wanted premium paper and binding that ate up most of the profits.
🏀 Next Level: This pro basketball player hits the net from the opposite end of the court.
🧠 Hack: A visual guide to the World Economic Forum’s core skills of 2030.
🗂️ Wow Site: Canvmark is a drag-and-drop visual canvas for bookmarks.
THANKS FOR READING
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