No more switching {{ FIRSTNAME | there }}? A modder built the ultimate gaming station: a PS5, Xbox Series X and Switch 2, all in one unit. The "Ningtendo PXBOX 5" sounded crazy. Now we want one. 🎮

In Today’s Open Letter

Pre-loved is big business in South Africa, but scammers are spoiling it for everyone – this startup’s bringing the trust to used fashion…

SA’s used item market is an estimated R30 billion a year industry, with mobile connectivity driving massive growth. In fact, second-hand clothing alone makes up a third of it at an estimated R10 billion in 2024 (almost 10% of SA’s total R108bn clothing market).

At current growth rates, SA’s thrift and second-hand market could climb to R6 trillion a year before 2030. But there is a darker side to your “online classifieds” industry…

The trouble with peer-to-peer

We used to find used goods at church fetes and local flea markets before the likes of Cash Crusaders/Converters set up shop. Then the interwebs came along, and we got Gumtree and later Facebook Marketplace, opening up a whole new world of sellers slinging their pre-loved goods. Lekker man.

But, as with anything cool, the scammers hit the digital streets hoping to make a quick buck.

Between "EFT-and-pray" scams, the anxiety of meeting strangers at petrol stations and the logistical nightmare of arranging a R100 delivery across town, it simply wasn’t worth the shlep for many people, with peer-to-peer (P2P) sales remaining a niche "extreme sport" for the brave.

The startup bringing trust to the thrift 

Yaga is a fast-growing marketplace for selling & buying secondhand fashion in South Africa.

Launching their pilot in Tallinn, Estonia, and expanding to South Africa in early 2020, their focus is on emerging markets, with their sights set on Kenya, Nigeria and beyond.

The idea for Yaga came when founder Aune Aunapuu was trying to sell a pram she no longer needed, and the available platforms were giving her no joy.

What’s really interesting is how Yaga has baked in “Trust-as-a-Service” with the platform’s escrow shield. They hold the buyer's cash in a secure account, and the seller only gets paid once the buyer clicks "Received." No delivery, no payday.

Built for safety 

Also, no sketchy parking lot meetups, just your goods delivered directly to you via Pudo, Paxi, PostNet and more. By automating the shipping labels and tracking, they turned every Pep store and locker in SA into a distribution hub.

Trust and convenience aside, these pre-loved fashion items are getting a new lease on life instead of ending up in landfills. Great for sustainability and the circular economy.

In late 2025, Yaga raised R80-million in a pre-Series A funding round, including investment from H&M Group Ventures (iconically ironic).

Sellers have made just over R1.5 billion on Yaga to date, and if you browse the platform, you’ll see they’ve expanded into categories beyond clothing, illustrating that solving trust and logistics in the peer-to-peer space is mega.

With Yaga innovating and building alongside other new P2P sustainable fashion platforms like Thrif, whose team are in The Founder Collab, this space is getting exciting.

We’re watching it…

Juggling coding agents in tabs? Vibecraft gives you a spatial grid to run Claude Code with directional audio and live visuals — terminal-free, local-only, and totally free. Try it here.

Building in voice AI? Speechmatics is offering early-stage founders $50K in API credits, office hours and priority support through its startup program. Apply here.

Want more accurate answers from ChatGPT? New research shows rude prompts outperform polite ones on the latest LLMs. Read the paper here.

Anthony Anti-Corrosion Coatings in SA had global demand, but growth was being held back by cash flow. Developing their own locally made coating, investing in equipment and expanding the team all required funding at the right time.

They approached Lula, and instead of box-ticking, Lula took the time to understand the business and backed its vision. Funding enabled new spray booths, new equipment and workforce expansion, while a dedicated relationship manager helped plan the next phase of growth.

The result? Stronger cash flow, faster product development and a business ready to scale with confidence.

Want the same?

🪽 Get Your Startup Wings. Applications are open for Red Bull Basement 2026, a global innovation programme for first-time founders and students over the age of 18 to pitch their innovative product ideas and stand a chance of turning them into real-world products. Nice.

🌍 African Bot Docs Loading. The Bill Gates Foundation and OpenAI want to help African companies use AI to improve their healthcare systems with an R820 million partnership, starting in Rwanda. Sjoe, hey…

🪨 New World Jumpstart. Looks like the fossils of a tiny ecosystem found in the Cedarberg could have jump-started marine life on Earth after the end-Ordovician ice age and mass extinction event, according to a team of scientists from SA, Canada, France and the UK. No DNA, just…

🚅 SA’s Beefiest Interwebs Speed. Want SA’s fastest internet speed? Well, it’s not in Jozi or The Mother City. In fact, you’ll find the fastest average fixed broadband speed in Villeria in Pretoria, followed by Randpark Ridge in 2nd and Doornpoort in 3rd. Interesting.

📄 Still Not Registered? In 2025, Government shut down 15'000 informal businesses for compliance failures. This free guide breaks down exactly when you should register your business in SA and why waiting too long can kill your growth.

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

Yesterday, we showed you how Green Riders is bringing rent-to-own e-bikes to SA, asking what vehicle will rule last-mile in the next 5 years. Most say it’s e-bikes…

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🔋 Electric Bikes (52%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🏍️ Petrol Motorbikes (17%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤖 Autonomous Drones/Robots (15%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🚐 A food truck with chef who makes dinner in your driveway (6%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🛒 In our post-apocalyptic future, we’ll be raiding abandoned grocery stores (11%)

Kenya topped Africa’s startup Big Four in 2025.

The latest funding data from Africa:

💡 Kenya pulled in $984 million in 2025 (a third of the continent).

💡 Followed by Egypt ($614m), South Africa ($599m) and Nigeria ($343m).

💡 The Big Four absorbed 82% of Africa’s funding, but individual deals are getting smaller.

It looks like there’s stronger startup activity in emerging markets.

💡 Tool to Try: Oneprofile keeps all your customer profiles and events perfectly in sync across CRMs, analytics and marketing tools.

🎤 That’s Interesting: Dr Dre & Snoop’s “Still D.R.E.” was ghostwritten by Jay-Z. What?

🎥 Next Level: How the Bourne Ultimatum window-jump scenes were actually filmed.

💼 Hack: If the boss asks you to do something, don’t just say yes; it creates the impression you’re doing nothing right now. Ask “when do you need it by?” to set boundaries and cut stress.

🧺 Wow Site: DryOutside tells you whether to dry your laundry outside or inside.

Help us make The Open Letter more useful to you.

Vote in the poll, leave a quick comment, or hit reply — we read every single one.