Get the picture? A startup’s taking AI art to the next level with smart frames you connect to the net and sommer generate the art right there on your wall. Hmm… 🎨
In Today’s Open Letter
Locked In: The guys boosting SA property investability.
Local: Overberg space race & Discovery’s sleep tracker.
Global: Dubai FinTech incoming & Starlink’s new SA plan.
AI: No-code agents (how to) & instant business ideas.
Chart of the day: Where SA’s private energy gen’s at.
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TRENDING NOW
Making SA Properties More Investable
Commercial property in SA is risky business – this venture de-risks it with Hollywood-level flair…
With SA’s commercial property sector at around R1.9 trillion in value and SA’s National Infrastructure Plan (NIP 2050) outlining at least another R2 trillion investment in infrastructure development (we’ve already seen R445bn in 2024 alone), you’d imagine that SA’s big properties would be kitted out to the gills with advanced tech, right?
We always imagined they had really sophisticated systems, like the control room from Jurassic World, able to track a fly sneezing from 10 kilometres away…
Turns out, no. Not even close. The truth of how these mega properties are run, tracked and managed might just make you question those poor investors’ sanity…
What you don’t see
SA loses R7 billion a year to sabotage and theft, is No. 1 in Africa for projected losses in warehousing and logistics, has seen a 52% rise in environmental complaints in recent years and most properties easily blow 20–30% of daily energy budgets on idle consumption.
Why? Two big reasons:
While most of today’s assets and equipment have built-in sensors, they don’t talk to each other. So, if anything goes wrong (security breach, alarms, mechanical breakdowns), someone has to go investigate on some siloed system (or in 55% of cases, a spreadsheet somewhere) to find out what the problem is.
Most ops teams and personnel have taken to talking via WhatsApp (like most of SA), so you’ll have various chats and groups where, for example, security and guest comms teams sit on separate channels, fragmenting conversations and delaying response times.
The industry desperately needs a tech-savvy way to give property owners oversight…
The local venture propelling property into the future
Local venture The Awareness Company (TACo) solves all of these (and then some) with a single platform that collects, records, displays and contextualises data across energy, water, fleets, security, workforce, equipment, compliance, assets, waste, customers and even climate, all in one place. Prolly best described as the real-world version of that Jurassic World control centre.
Actual HYDRA view…
The HYDRA platform brings everything from IoT sensors, cameras and drones to mobile data in and around a property (yes, the entire neighbourhood) onto a central real-time view that gives management strategic information and even automates reporting (cutting down reporting time from 7 months to a few seconds).
It even adds a social media analytical overlay by integrating relevant WhatsApp and other channels right into the dashboard, so comms are unified and visible to enable strategic management.
After numerous awards and 3 successful funding rounds, TACo CEO and co-founder Priaash Ramadeen and team have already helped numerous mines enhance security and sustainability, multi-site commercial properties centralise ops and hospital groups save millions per year.
And they’re currently showcasing the tech to property investors and infrastructure site operators, both in SA and internationally.
True leaders in SA innovation. We’re watching this space.
TRENDING IN AI
3 Things to try in AI
Looking for startup ideas with actual demand? Govchain’s Business Idea Generator gives you SA-specific ideas based on your skills and budget — ready to launch.
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Still wasting salespersons’ time on cold calls? Cora is an extremely persistent AI that calls every lead on your list until they pick up, sounds human and books meetings automatically.
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FROM OUR FRIENDS AT CHAT INC
Real WhatsApp marketing – no sales call required
Who said only big brands can have power WhatsApp tech?
Most new and small businesses don’t have time to sit through demos or figure out clunky enterprise software. You’ve got products to ship, customers to talk to and zero patience for red tape.
But what if you could just… start?
That’s why flEX by Chat Inc is such a game-changer — the first pure SaaS WhatsApp marketing platform in South Africa. No subscriptions. No platform fees. No gatekeeping.
✅ You sign up
✅ Connect your WhatsApp channel
✅ Buy credits & start sending.
Whether you’re a boutique store, local brand, or solo founder, flEX gives you the same broadcast and automation tools the big brands use — without needing a whole IT team to run it.
IN SHORT
Something to keep the water cooler convo flowing…
🇿🇦 To The Moon. Mura Space and the Aerospace Systems Research Institute (ASRI) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) have entered into an agreement to use the Overberg Test Range to enable only approved suborbital test or research vehicle launches, using the existing and mobile launch infrastructure. Very cool.
📋 Get it Listed. Optasia, a Dubai FinTech, is listing on the JSE, aiming to raise a whopping R1.3 billion for expansion. Optasia currently has 120 million active users in 38 countries and processes 32 million loans daily. Very interesting.
🛌 Night Night. Discovery is teaming up with Oura to tease us into a sweeter slumber; their new program uses Oura's smart ring to track sleep and reward users. With a 5 to 8-day battery, just imagine getting rewarded for sleeping. Ok, sign us up.
🛰️ Shooting Their Shot. Starlink plans to splash R2.5-billion in South Africa, aiming to connect 5’000 schools with free internet and hardware, while deftly navigating local BEE regulations. Sjoe, hey.
✅ The Stack. Founders need reliable tools and suppliers. Our Founder’s Stack gives you the best in IP offshoring with Finance Isle of Man, all your VC and startup legal sorted by Dommisse Attorneys, and loads more startup tools & services.
LOVE IT?
WHAT YOU SAID
On the line…
Yesterday, we showed you how SaleMate’s working to help SA companies make more sales, asking what sales tasks you procrastinate on. And cold calling’s the hurdle…
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🥴 Thinking about a Sales Strategy (15%)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🥶 Cold outreach (59%)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📄 Updating (and using) the CRM (8%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👋 Following up on leads (15%)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📅 Booking meetings with the right people (3%)
Your 2 cents…
“Actually, the cold leads are not the worst since then at least you may talk to a person. The worst part is getting to find the right person to deal with (energy supply in our case).”
Preach, Alan, preach. If we can just bypass the gatekeepers… 🏰
“Trying to make someone listen to you even though you have no connection with them, for me that is awkward and difficult.”
True, T. Early-stage, your first few calls are usually throwaways of you just trying to get into the customer’s mind. 🥵
“We’ve grown solely through word of mouth. I know a sales strategy is a Good Thing to help grow us further but 😭😭😭”
Pretty sure SaleMate would love to help with that when you’re ready, Samantha. 🚀
UP OR DOWN?
A graph that matters
Private energy is growing — and this is where projects are located.
Founders and energy operators take note:
💡 The Western Cape now ranks 2nd in private power capacity (2.7 GW), thanks to three major wind farms added in just two months.
💡 Since 2024, over 1 GW of wind power has been registered in the Western Cape alone, including the massive 380 MW Fe Overberg and three 240 MW Red Cap projects.
💡 Limpopo has the most private power at 2.73 GW, largely solar.
Regulatory filings are surging, wind power is heating up in the Western Cape, but there’s a lot of demand all around SA.
AROUND THE WEB
🛠 Tool to Try: Lessie is an AI-powered people search agent that’ll find you influencers, leads, investors and experts.
🍀 That’s Interesting: A Titanic passenger’s message in a bottle washed ashore a year after it sank —just a few miles from his family home in Ireland.
🌪 Next Level: One of the most beautiful tornadoes ever filmed (from June this year).
🧠 Hack: A guide to finding your zone of genius with 12 key prompts.
📜 Wow Site: Codex Atlanticus lets you browse all of Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebooks.
THE FOUNDER COLLAB
Building a startup? Don’t do it alone.
Hey, Renier here 👋, co-founder of The Open Letter.
I’ve spent 17 years in SA tech and seen hundreds of startups rise and fall. The ones that made it all had one thing in common: a strong community.
That’s why I started The Founder Collab — a space where 100+ SA founders connect for:
☕ Meetups & events
🎓 Weekly masterclasses
📚 35+ expert sessions on-demand
🤝 A network unlike anything else
Come build your startup alongside me and 100+ other SA founders in The Founder Collab.
Spaces are limited — new founders join weekly.
THANKS FOR READING
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