Hardware with a new business model that deploys mega solar installations at zero cost across Africa, a ride-share platform built natively on WhatsApp using AI matching and a health engine that turns US preventive guidelines into a personalised 12-month plan. All built right here in SA.

These are the 5 most unique SA tech plays to watch this week.

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Building a long-distance ride-share platform on WhatsApp instead of a standalone app, using AI to match riders and drivers on routes where 8–24 million seats travel empty. CrabaRide's tech play is combining passenger-licensing rate structures with intelligent route matching and in-app safety features, all inside the messaging platform 95% of SA already uses. See the full tech breakdown in our coverage of CrabaRide's long-distance trips play.

Kleo Health is a personal health app that generates a 12-month screening plan using the US preventive care guidelines (the global gold standard), stores encrypted medical records from phone-snapped documents, and handles appointment reminders — built specifically for women, who make 80% of household healthcare decisions in SA. 

Built from 250+ women's real health experiences alongside a specialist physician with 30 years in practice. See how it works in our deep dive into Kleo Health's female and family health product.

MyPetFriends is a neighbourhood-level web marketplace matching pet owners with vetted sitters, filterable by pet type, service, availability and location — formalising an industry that currently runs on WhatsApp groups and Facebook posts for 7.4 million pet-owning SA households. 

Already 1,000 sitters in beta across major SA cities. See the platform in action in our feature on MyPetFriends' pet sitter finder.

Gooi is a web-based subscription model for household food scraps: sign up, pick a plan, get a bucket, weekly collection and composting into nutrient-dense soil product. No heavy tech — just a clean digital layer on top of a last-mile logistics operation that turns a R8.7bn municipal cost into a sellable byproduct, while SA farmers import 80% of their fertiliser. 

With the Western Cape pushing to ban 100% of organic waste from landfills by 2027, this could be a replicable model for operators across SA. See the concept in our post on Gooi's organic waste removal concept.

This one isn't really a software play — it's about what happens when you wrap a unique business model around serious hardware. 

SolarSaver funds, deploys and maintains massive commercial solar installations across Africa without the client paying a cent upfront, removing the 20-year capital commitment that keeps African businesses off solar despite the continent holding 60% of the world's best solar resources. 

The result: 700+ mega installations across four countries and growing. See how the hardware and funding model work together in our breakdown of SolarSaver's zero-capex solar installations.

We update this page periodically, but we showcase a new unique SA company every single day in The Open Letter, along with loads of daily tech, investment and AI news. Be the first to know every day by signing up to The Open Letter now.

Every week, we interview South African founders and operators building or scaling unique new businesses of every size. This is a rolling list of the tech behind those companies, and we keep it updated, practically daily.

If you know of SA tech (be it from a startup, scale-up, SME or corporate) that should be featured here, tell our team about it. 

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