Nice’n cheeky? Some peeps noticed Nando’s had a little fun with the Astronomer cheating CEO incident by running a something on the side promo. Using the code “COLDPLAY” gave you a free side with your main (no judgment). 🍗

In This Open Letter:

Our MSME sector generates around R5 trillion in turnover every year, yet an enormous portion of it’s under the radar — this startup’s helping micro-enterprises get legal in the coolest way…

South Africa’s 3-million-strong Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector employs some 80% of our workforce, yet 72% of our 2.5 million micro-enterprises are operating informally (that’s 1.8 million).

And while it’s generally quick and straightforward to register a business (hello, BizPortal and Govchain), staying compliant is another story: Tax compliance is a major hurdle for SMEs, who often lack the staff and skills to navigate complex rules. The cost isn’t just time; it’s extra admin, hiring help and, often, penalties for non-compliance.

The devil in the details of your cubby hole…

It’s not that MSMEs don’t care to be compliant; they just don’t know where their money went. That R28 tube of glue? That R2’000 tool? Those receipts are sitting in a car cubby until a deadline or fine forces a panic.

Hiring an accountant can help, but it can run into thousands of Rands and is often out of reach, particularly for small business owners who are running from project to project.

The local startup making accounting as easy as texting your cousin

Huppi is a platform that helps simplify financial operations for SMEs: Their WhatsApp-powered Expensabot lets entrepreneurs run their back office via WhatsApp. You snap a pic of your receipt, Expensabot reads it, extracts the VAT, and files it categorically for tax automatically. 

Business owners can also generate PDF invoices and include a payment link to lock in payment instantly, as well as upload a bank statement, which Huppi converts and categorises so it can reconcile transactions without you having to think about it.

We caught up with founder Karel Verhoeven recently, and soon you’ll be able to send a voice note to Huppi’s Expensabot and get a PDF invoice and payment link in return.

And Karel tells us he’s actually not out to replace accountants; in fact, he’s partnering with them to help them scale: The tech handles the grunt work and the accountant just signs off, meaning they can serve more (smaller) clients faster – in some cases even halving the small businesses’ compliance costs. Lekka.

We’re watching this space.

Here’s what you need to know…

On 6 August 2025, industry leaders are meeting at Cloud on Demand’s offices in Sandton for a power-packed morning exploring AI, data analytics and HR tech innovation.

Hear from Anni Toner (Data Shack), Manali Sheth (eSoft) and other experts on how AI is shaping the future of work. Connect, learn and network over light refreshments and lunch.

What you’ll gain:

🚀 Cutting-edge insights on AI’s real impact on HR from global leaders.
🔍 Exclusive first look at HR Focus’s newest features and AI applications.
🔒 Actionable strategies for future-proofing HR tech with Microsoft Azure.

RSVP by 28 July to secure your seat.

🌍 Google's African AI Leap. Google is showering Africa with a $37-million AI boost, supporting everything from unique food systems to empowering 40+ local languages. Nice one.

👆Ramping it Up. Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) has just dropped R365 million in a new state-of-the-art bottling line capable of producing over 70’000 bottles every hour at its Midrand bottling plant. Goodness.

🫖 Spilling the Tea. Trendy (apparently) dating-safety app, Tea, has spilt 72’000 user images, including 13’000 selfies. Probs going to be used to train AI (safely?).

🔍 Fancy a Career Change? SA's still facing a major skills gap, especially in ICT, health and engineering. The culprit? A skills mismatch where school leavers aren’t getting training in skills the country actually needs. Stop the gap?

🌊 Evacuate My Country. The island nation of Tuvalu is becoming the first-ever country to be migrated as climate change threatens to submerge it within 25 years. Just imagine processing them climate visas…

✅ The Stack. Founders need trusted tools and suppliers. Our Founder’s Stack gives you full-funnel tech marketing by Stream, acceleration and funding with Octoco and loads more vital startup tools & services.

The Founder Collab has been buzzing the past few weeks with learnings, wins and good times. Here’s a glimpse:

1️⃣ Theunis Duminy showed how to automate your business from day one. He showed us how to turn meeting notes into client proposals with zero manual work.

2️⃣ Jason Goldberg hosted a masterclass on execution. Helping us bridge the gap between vision and action.

3️⃣ Tyler Reed, a community member, shared his journey bootstrapping a business now serving 30 telcos across 20 countries.

4️⃣ Laurie & Gustav, who met in the Collab, just launched a venture together.

5️⃣ We shared experiences of handling difficult client conversations, like non-payment. 👀

If you’re building something and want to go faster, join us at The Founder Collab.

Last week, we explored the startup idea of paid rental properties in SA, asking if you’d pay to view rentals. For most, it’s a hard no…

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💸 Absolutely – time is money (21%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ✅ Maybe, if it includes pre-approval (17%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🙅 Nope, that’s what agents are for (55%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤔 Depends on the price (7%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🔑 Wait, I have a way better idea… (0)

Your 2 cents…

Hmm, this tech sounds like something worth exploring, then, eh, Rod? 🔭

Sounds like a plan, then, Nick. 🚀

Your absolute last chance for our event in Stellenbosch — 7 August 18:00 — We were sold out for our chat with the people behind some of SA’s most successful startups. But a new sponsor came on board and made 20 extra tickets available — the only thing is, they’re also almost gone. This is your last, last chance to attend The Open Letter’s in-person event in Stellenbosch. Use code TOL50 to get R50 off at checkout here.

Principles for creating a strong product culture — CPT 29 July, 18:00 — Our podcast co-host Bobby Sequeira is hosting a product meetup with Joaquim Torres, author of “Digital Transformation and Product Culture“. Free to attend, book here.

Lead generation made simple — DBN 30 July, 09:00 — Hosted by the BNI (Business Network International) Legends Chapter, this live session with local social media strategist Mfundo Shozi unpacks his proven LAC framework for cost-effective lead generation using social media ads, lead magnets and automation. Only 13 seats are available. Book here.

AI reality check — CPT 1 Aug, 17:00 — Is AI living up to its promise, or are we lost in the hype? Join aeronautical engineer turned software founder, Migal Van As, at Innovation City for a grounded take on what AI can (and can’t) do, plus a 5-year foresight on its real-world impact. Book here.

Hosting a demo day, panel, founder meetup or tech event? Let us know, and we’ll feature it for FREE.

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.