INNOVATE™ South Africa

FOUNDED IN 2008 IN MARYLAND WASHINGTON DC, 2U, INC. SET OUT TO CREATE THE WORLD’S BEST ONLINE EDUCATION AND THEY’VE BEEN DEFYING THE ODDS EVER SINCE. ALSO AROUND THE EXACT SAME TIME AND COINCIDING WITH THE BEGINNING OF THE MOOC REVOLUTION, GETSMARTER WAS ALSO FOUNDED. Early on in the industry,...

Honest Chocolate was founded in 2010 by two friends Anthony Gird and Michael de Klerk. When they couldn’t find high quality, locally made chocolate on the retail shelf they decided to start making their own. When their friends couldn’t get enough of these homemade treats, Anthony and Michael realised there...

In order to ensure this is successful, the South African-based educators also teach learners’ parents and their teachers too, as well as mental health professionals, helping to bridge the technological divide and provide the much-needed insights and tools to navigate a complex social landscape.   “The more we do that,...

Where do brands and marketers look to understand middle-class consumers go to find actionable, realistic, useful data? That was the question the team at WhyFive Insights asked almost a decade ago when they launched a unique annual survey and data set called BrandMapp. “We were working in media at the...

Global e-Talent Pty Ltd (GeT) is a young Sandton, Johannesburg-based talent search, placement, and onboarding firm. It partners with both private and public organisations, to meet their talent acquisition needs and that such talent is adequately integrated into their business. Behind the conventional recruitment agency, behind it sits a very...

What began as an unfurnished open space on the fourth floor of The Hudson Building in De Waterkant, Cape Town, with 13 people in 2010, is today a growing agency with over 250 talented, creative and diverse people, across a Cape Town and Johannesburg campus, and an agency that has...

The hardy spekboom is considered a pioneer species within the Karoo thicket biome. This means that the plant itself can assist in the regeneration of the indigenous brush, with many other species benefitting from its shade and the nutrients it brings into the soil. As a succulent, spekboom is the...

The CEO and founder of Red-Lined International Terence Marsh had a goal of competing on the world stage at Dakar and established the business in 2013. We set out into the international market in search of a race car and returned to South Africa disillusioned at what the market had...

WOOF Project is a dynamic ‘pop–up’ mobile dog adoption initiative by Oscars Arc, a NPO born to inspire dog adoption and to save dogs’ lives. It was founded by Joanne Lefson in honour of Oscar, the adopted dog with whom she travelled around the world, visiting 43 countries across 5...

NxaTel is a Modern Unified communication platform for Small and Medium businesses that allows you to get local numbers from over 10+ African countries to use on any device. It’s easy to set up; you just need three minutes, and you gain access to the cloud phone system, virtual meetings,...

Throw in some “What if…” blue sky thinking, a good dollop of youth and passion and Cinevation was born. It was 1997 and cinemas were 35mm which meant advertising took months to produce and was so expensive that it was reserved only for the big guys. Over a glass of...

Why are there so many books about Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in online book stores and libraries, but so few of the innovators redefining Africa? “All you have to do is Google an African innovator and almost nothing pops up,” says researcher Nnamdi Oranye, who is also...

Young girls can dare to dream big and aspire to greatness. Rene Naylor has 130 caps as part of the Springbok Rugby’s medical and management team. While Naylor is a physiotherapist, she is also a motivational speaker taking her story to girls and boys from all walks of life in...

Established in 2010 as the incarnation of the South African venture capital division of ‘Here Be Dragons’ – a privately owned emerging market investment group founded by internet entrepreneur and cosmonaut Mark Shuttleworth. By leveraging knowledge, networks & funding, Knife Capital accelerates the international expansion of entrepreneurial businesses that achieved...

Leading South African multidisciplinary technical services business, Prommac, has been excelling in the petrochemical and heavy industry sectors since 2012 providing mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and welding services in execution of maintenance, shutdowns and turnarounds, as well as construction projects. If this sounds like just another company, think again. For a...

The story of Nando’s is well-known to South Africans who grew up alongside us in our relatively new democracy. In 1987 two friends shared a meal at a humble Portuguese eatery in Rosettenville, Johannesburg. Here they were inspired by the taste of the African Bird’s Eye Chilli, a spice that...

Joe Public was established in Cape Town in 1998 by Gareth Leck and Pepe Marais. They opened the agency’s doors to the public with something completely new, Take-Away Advertising. This revolutionary model allowed hungry clients to order an ad off a menu with a price list, making Joe Public a...

Mahlako a Phahla, founded by sisters Makole Mupita and Meta Mhlarhi, is named after our mother Mahlako to pay homage to her pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit in building a successful family business at a time when it was difficult for many black people to do so.   Mahlako is an...

We at CTRL have a mission and vision for the future we want to create with everyone. We believe that robots of all shapes and sizes will be key to the physical automation revolution in every part of our society. CTRL Robotics was founded by three people determined to develop...

Data is the source of all learning, and nothing should get in the way of that. Data should be easy to access and explore. We spend too long working on our data instead of with our data. Data tells a story, and it’s our job to unearth and tell that...