Flying car {{ FIRSTNAME | there }}? The startup we told you about last year is officially taking orders. The first commercially available flying eVTOL will set you back R3 million (R4M for the top-end model), though. Anyone borrow us a quick R3-4 million? 🛸

In This Open Letter

You don’t always have to grow slowly: If investors believe in you, they might just help you buy the incumbents…

During the holidays, we featured Priaash Ramadeen’s The Awareness Company founder story. TLDR: A team of CSIR data scientists used poaching reports and data inputs to model where and when poaching is likely to take place.

The results were great. Their system helped cut decision-making time by half and decrease rhino poaching by 37%.

Into the urban jungle

Port that same thinking to crime, where AI can be super useful: Using deep learning to analyse social media and geospatial info, systems can forecast criminal events rather than just reacting. A 2022 University of Chicago study showed that algorithms can predict future crimes 7 days in advance with up to 90% accuracy.

But South Africa has a problem: Stats SA has to estimate the total number of 2024 thefts (1.3 million) and housebreak-ins (1.5 million), because only 31%–43% are reported.

So, to make a real dent in crime, you need a direct line to South Africans…

Data, prediction, response – when startups buy corporates

By now, most people know Community Wolf, the 2024 community safety startup that collects data from community chat groups and responders. But, as good as the Wolf’s data is, it told an incomplete story: They still needed to add the patrol route data of security companies AND a way to help respond to crimes.

So, after raising R8.5 million from UK investors in June 2025, Community Wolf set out close that gap by buying SA’s most widely downloaded safety app, Namola, a wholly-owned Multichoice subsidiary, last December.

It was good timing: Multichoice had just sold to Canal+ and needed to focus on its core business. But also a good deal: Namola is a highly used panic button with over 500k+ users in SA, built over 10 years and playing a role in coordinating 80k emergencies around the country.

The deal amount was undisclosed, but Namola is a freemium product with paid tiers between R59 and R129 per month, so likely bringing in a few million Rand per year.

But, of course, that’s not the big play: For Community Wolf, adding the panic and response data layers into their offering is what will change the game.

The big takeaway

Startups, particularly in SA, often try to build everything themselves, so we are intrigued by this power move by a young startup to acquire an incumbent from a larger company. 

This could just be a strategy that unlocks great growth for many startups in SA. 

We’re watching this space…

Have your say…

No one loves seeing business grow more than Lula. That's why this month, Lula wants to match your business with more than just funding.

Apply for business funding this month to stand a chance to win your share of R250’000. That’s 5 winners over 4 weeks, and 1 opportunity to get more than growth.

How it works:

Pro tip: Subscribing to the Lula newsletter gives you additional entries and a better chance at winning.

📈 Lesaka’s Shrewd Route to Profit. Lesaka just posted its first profit since its 2022 rebrand, reporting R61 million in net income after years of losses. The shift? It did the opposite of most SA ventures: Shifted focus from B2B to direct B2C consumer FinTech. Lending passed R1 billion in a single quarter — there’s something to be learned here.

💰 Lekker Retirement. Fibertime and EasyEquities just showcased a new employee retirement model: No more outsourcing, employees invest themselves. RA or TFSA, they’re in control. But most importantly, the model is cheap and works no matter the team size. The ultimate SME benefit? See how it works here.

🪖 Ready. Aim. Fire. Ever wondered how SA’s military power stacks up against other countries? Well, the Global Firepower Power Index has ranked our military ability 40th out of 145 countries based on over 60 different factors, coming in behind Egypt (1st), Algeria (2nd) and Nigeria (3rd) on the African continent. Sjoe hey.

🚘 Hello, Are You There? Apple is reportedly getting ready to allow users to use other companies’ voice-controlled AI apps in CarPlay, with support for these apps coming within the next month. Very interesting…

🐂 Locking It Down. Spain has become the latest country to consider implementing a ban on social media for children under 16 years of age, with the Spanish Prime Minister referring to it as “a digital wild west”. Nice.

🛏️ Airbnb Tax? The City of Cape Town is expected to increase municipal rates for short-term rental properties in the city, charging these homes commercial tariffs as opposed to standard residential rates. This could see rates increase by as much as 135%. Hmmm.

⏱️ Payroll 8× Faster. Cape Union Mart’s payroll team was stuck fixing errors and fighting downtime. So Deel Local Payroll, powered by PaySpace, replaced the old system with a cloud platform that cut payroll processing from 4 days to just half a day, eliminating downtime and freeing the team to focus on real operational improvements.*

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

You can now shop with crypto in SA. Binance Pay has been integrated with Scan To Pay, meaning hundreds of thousands of local merchants (from grocery stores to petrol stations) can now accept crypto payments via QR code. Lekka.

South Africa just launched its own institutional crypto money. A new rand-backed stablecoin called ZARU has launched for settlement and cross-border payments. Unlike earlier crypto experiments, ZARU is institutional-first, fully rand-backed, audited and designed to run alongside the existing financial system — a clear sign that crypto is becoming finance infrastructure. Learn more about stablecoins here.

Why crypto feels slow right now. Prices have fallen and activity feels muted, but Binance Research’s latest weekly commentary shows investors aren’t panicking — they’re waiting. With uncertainty around US interest rates and geopolitics, most capital is sitting tight until clearer macro signals emerge. If you want the full picture, read the latest insights here.

Disclaimer: Digital asset prices can be volatile. The value of your investment may go down or up and you may not get back the amount invested. You are solely responsible for your investment decisions and Binance is not liable for any losses you may incur. Not financial advice. For more information, see our Terms of Use and Risk Warning.

Last Friday, we showed you how Openclaw can be your on-device AI personal assistant, asking what part of your life AI can maar just take over. For most, it’s invoicing and admin…

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📧 Emails. I’m tired, boss (12%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📅 Meetings & scheduling (12%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 💸 Invoicing, bookkeeping, admin nonsense (45%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🛒 Online shopping & reorders (4%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😴 All of it. Wake me when it’s done (27%)

Your 2 cents…

So right, The Art. It’s how you use it that matters in the end. 💪

Founder Automations – 13 Feb, Online: Learn the core automations every founder should have with a live n8n demo from Vertiqal’s Theunis Duminy. Join the session

Search Is Changing – 27 Feb, Online: Chantelle Bowyer breaks down what AI-powered search means for SEO in 2026 and how to stay visible. Register here

Building Global Tech From SA – 5 Mar, Stellenbosch: Adii Pienaar shares hard-earned lessons from building and exiting WooCommerce, Conversio and Cogsy. Get tickets

Lekker Network Summit – 11–12 Mar, Somerset West: Two days of talks, connection and community with The Lekker Network’s global members at Lourensford. View details

More? See the best and most exciting SA startup and tech events.

💼 Tool to Try: SponsorRadar find brands sponsoring YouTube channels.

🥛 That’s Interesting: On aeroplanes, black boxes are legally required to be orange. LOL.

🍝 Next Level: The evolution of generative AI, measured entirely by Will Smith eating spaghetti.

🧠 Hack: A visual breakdown of where AI models actually get their facts from.

🌍 Wow Site: Seeking Blue lets you explore ancient wars throughout history, in the places where they took place.