Funded Startups & Projects

Sawubona Mycelium is a South African biotechnology company harnessing the power of African medicinal fungi to create sustainable, high-value bio-based ingredients for industries such as personal care, functional foods, pharmaceuticals, and beverages. Founded in 2018 and based in Centurion, the company integrates fermentation science, indigenous knowledge, and AI-driven data analytics to unlock novel biomolecules from a library of over 3,000 fungal strains sourced across Southern Africa.

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Sensor Networks is a South African smart-technology company founded in 2007 that blends hardware, software and data analytics to deliver intelligent home and business solutions. They focus on energy management, risk mitigation (especially for water and geyser systems), smart home automation, and custom hardware & development.
 

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The Talk360 international calling app allows reliable and affordable phone calls to any offline landline or mobile phone in the world. It is a simple app that helps people call their friends, reach out to their family, and speak with their loved ones over the phone. As the call receiver does not need internet, the Talk360 app, or a smartphone, this solution was able to connect 2 million people in 2021, no matter where they were located or whether they had internet access.

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Pelebox also known as Technovera (Pty) Ltd is a South African health-tech company offering smart lockers to radically cut patient waiting times at clinics, from over three hours to under two minutes. Their “Think Inside” philosophy emphasises designing for local realities: they view constraints not as setbacks but as catalysts for creative, frugal, contextually relevant innovation.

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