Lucky break? A man who had his luggage stolen at the airport used his Apple AirTags to track it down and found the thief literally already wearing his clothes. 👨🏻‍💼

Meta is making it easier to replace humdrum SMS campaigns with rich, vibrant video and engagement – and this SA startup’s already helping brands do amazing new things on it…

Brands in South Africa still default to SMS for “reach,” even though the channel is blunt and text-only. 

Meanwhile, WhatsApp has shifted its Business Platform pricing to per-message, making costs easier to benchmark against SMS while unlocking rich media, quick replies and verified profiles. 

So, while it might be a similar line-item on marketing budgets, WhatsApp offers a far more dynamic canvas.  

The opportunity

Per-message billing removes the “conversation window” guesswork that scared off marketers before, and global partners note Meta’s aim is to create clearer ROI comparisons with other channels (read: SMS).

In parallel, WhatsApp remains South Africa’s de facto messaging rail (94% of the country uses it), so the audience is already there; the economics just got simpler. 

Expect spending to migrate as marketers learn that a single WhatsApp touch can carry images, PDFs, carousels and two-way flows that SMS simply can’t.   

The local player building for it

Chat Inc is an enterprise messaging stack that spans WhatsApp marketing, automation and an omnichannel agent inbox, with on-ramp services like number validation to protect quality scores. 

We caught up with Jonathan Williams, founder of Chat Inc, who frames WhatsApp as “infrastructure” in South Africa, arguing that you shouldn’t build an app unless it lives on a user’s first screen – something WhatsApp already does. 

Their track record includes early enterprise workflows and local category proofs like FlySafair’s airline check-in and boarding passes delivered in chat. A solution that triggered a lot of local interest in WhatsApp at scale. 

With pricing now simpler to model, WhatsApp’s pitch is straightforward: move high-volume, SMS-style campaigns into a richer medium without blowing up the budget, then layer automation and service on the same thread.

Dive a lil’ deeper  

We had Jonathan on the latest episode of the How Would You Build It, to catch some insights on Chat Inc and his personal journey building a company in SA, including:

Catch all the info in our chat with Joanthan here. 👈

Want honest, impartial and independent financial insights?

Our friends at Doshguide are running something unique at this year’s Money Summit in Sandton on 9 September: An Entrepreneur Personal Finance Health Check Clinic, where a team of pro independent fin advisors take a small group (max 4) of people and gets hands-on with helping you sort your personal finances.

How to build wealth, protect it, where, when and how to invest — bring your questions, this team is not affiliated with any of the big brands, so you’ll get personal, direct and honest insights.

Bonus: Free tickets to Money Summit

The kicker is these fin health checks are happening inside this year’s Money Summit event: Africa's largest gathering of CFOs, finance leaders, accountants and investors; with 100+ masterclasses, workshops, forums and over 100 speakers.

And the Doshguide team have organised something special for you: Pre-book your clinic spot now, and they’ll give you a free ticket to the entire conference (worth R250).

It’s all happening:

🗓️ 9 September 2025, 9:00–17:00
📍At the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg

And then use the code DOSHGUIDE to claim your free ticket on registration 👇

Who still thinks neighbourhoods can’t be safe?

Community Wolf is turning WhatsApp groups into a real-time neighbourhood watch and response layer by making the stuff already on Groups (warnings, voice notes and number plates) usable for intelligent response.

Here’s what’s really clever:

✅ Report from chat with photos and plates, then AI structures and routes the info
✅ Live intelligence turns noise into action, predicting hotspots and optimising patrols
✅ Built for residents and security firms alike, with access control, guard check-ins and licence scans on WhatsApp

No downloads. No portals. It meets people where they are and turns group chat into community safety.

What would you move to WhatsApp to make your area safer?

Dashboards full of numbers don’t equal strategy. Reports crammed with metrics don’t guarantee insight.

If your data is scattered across databases, file systems and tools, your “strategy” is still running on gut feel — reacting to old problems instead of planning for new opportunities.

That’s where Sidekick Lab’s Auto-Discovery comes in.

It’s AI that comes in and turns your chaotic data into clarity:

✅ A super-index with built-in business context and guardrails.
✅ Your team can ask thoughtful questions in natural language.
✅ And get reliable, actionable answers, instantly.

Want to see it in action?

🚗 Smart Charge. STS Tech Group has just launched Smart EV, a new, smarter charging system that can ramp up charging capacity and speeds by 300% if loadshedding looms. Very cool.

🚀 Shoprite's Expansion Flex. Shoprite just keeps on flexing its retail muscles, unveiling over 360 stores in a year and ramping up sales by 8.9% to a whopping R252.7 billion. With their Sixty60 service delivery success creating quite the buzz, they've topped it off with a 496 cents per share dividend. Delivering to their customers and shareholders, it seems.

🚚 Takealot Goes B2B. Takealot has relaunched Takealot for Business, offering startups and big businesses hassle-free procurement with perks like 30-day interest-free terms, business coupons and rebates. Big moves from the e-commerce giant.

🤖 Getting Schooled by AI Schooling. Standard Bank is mandating AI risk and ethics training for its employees. With AI streamlining operations and turbocharging customer service, getting everyone up to speed is no small feat. Very cool move or a necessary leap?

✅ The Stack. Founders need reliable tools and suppliers. That’s why our Founder’s Stack gives you the best in IP offshoring and global market access with Finance Isle of Man, all your VC and startup legal sorted by Dommisse Attorneys, and loads more vital startup tools & services.

Yesterday, we showed you MotionAds’ awesome last-mile advertising, asking about the last billboard you noticed. And most see a memorable one every day…

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👊 Yesterday (36%)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🌀 Last month (13%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 📷 A funny one posted on LinkedIn (4%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤷 I cannot recall a single one (20%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🚦Only when I was stuck in traffic staring at it (27%)

Your 2 cents…

Ah, yes, Liam, Naked ads are always good for a giggle. 🚿

So true, Joanne, especially since you really wanna be paying attention to the road. 🏎️💨

Women-led and ready to scale? Naspers & Prosus’ Tech FoundHER Africa Challenge offers $100’000 in equity-free grants, senior mentorship and JSE stage time (19 Nov) for revenue-generating startups with a female founder. Apply here.

Seed to Series A in SA? Google for Startups Accelerator Africa (SA-only cohort) is a 3-month hybrid with expert mentoring, up to $350’000 Cloud credits and R1m per startup. Apply by 10 September here.

Looking to raise $50’000? The MEST Africa Challenge 2025 is a pitch competition for early-stage startups in FinTech and digital value chains — from agri-tech to credit innovation. Enter before 26 September right here.

Need to get funding-ready? Investec and Outsourced CFO’s Founders Foundation Accelerator Programme is now accepting new applications: With over R79 million raised, this is ideal for SMEs of 2+ years and R1m+ annual revenue looking to scale. Apply here.

Win R300k for SME excellence. Lula and News24 are awarding R300k in various categories in the inaugural SME Excellence Awards. All you need to enter is a 12-month track record and annual turnover of R500k+. More details here.

Want to promote your event/programme here? Let us know.

🛠 Tool to Try: GemLink lets you keep all your links in one place, with the option of a tweet-style way to share them socially.

🤔 That’s Interesting: The Epirus Leonidas is an actual directed-microwave weapon built to fry drone swarms — and it’s potent enough to stall cars and boats by zapping engines.

🔥 Next Level: This Vietnam parade cameraman rides a Segway and glides through cinematic shots like a one-man dolly crew.

🍔 Hack: Burnout fix: add 3-minute post-meeting resets, work from a “Top 3” daily list, and end the day with one thing you enjoy. Small shifts, big energy.

🌐 Wow Site: Pong Clock is a browser clock that plays Pong each minute; the score flips when time ticks. Click for authentic SFX.

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