10 South African Tech Startups

South Africa is abuzz with startup fever. It’s a good thing - we’re gaining traction on other technology hubs.

UPDATE: This list is not based on revenue in any way what so ever.

I define a startup as a company that is in it’s first or second phase of the business cycle; inception(product development) and growth(market development).

Here’s a list of 10 Popular South African tech startups as nominated on Twitter (in no particular order):

1) Yola

A website builder for anyone that wants to build and host a website quickly and easily. Heavily based on the Freemium model with paid upgrades. They were founded in Cape Town in 2007 and currently have offices in Cape Town and San Francisco.

Google Page Rank: 7
Alexa Rank: 4478
Compete Rank: 4152

2) Blueworld

A Cape Town based social network started by Charl Norman and Bradley Voges

Google Page Rank: 6
Alexa Rank: 41,597
Compete Rank: 295,336

3) Zoopy

Zoopy is a social platform for sharing video, photo’s and audio.

Google Page Rank: 5
Alexa Rank: 19,301
Compete Rank: 72,983

4) Afrigator

Africa’s largest social media aggregator and blog directory founded by Justin Hartman and Mike Stopforth and Stii Pretorius.

Google Page Rank: 4
Alexa Rank: 40,332
Compete Rank: 409,766

5) Springleap

A community based platform where users create designs, vote and interact with one another. Winning designs are printed on t-shirts and sold.

Google Page Rank: 5
Alexa Rank: 39,231
Compete Rank: 2,012,918

6) Memeburn

A blog focussed on tracking startup news and tech entrepreneurs’ stories from the emerging market sector. Founded by Mathew Buckland.

Google Page Rank: 0
Alexa Rank: 37,197
Compete Rank: 0

7) WooThemes

WooThemes is probably one of the most successful designer Wordpress Theme businesses in the world.

Google Page Rank: 7
Alexa Rank: 1747
Compete Rank: 5755

8) SACamera

An online store focussing entirely on photographic equipment and accessories.

Google Page Rank: 3
Alexa Rank: 101,668
Compete Rank: 1,903,636

9) Skyrove

A WIFI hotspot provider with a twist. Skyrove pays a percentage of revenue to people who host the Skyrove routers at the end of each month.

Google Page Rank: 5
Alexa Rank: 314,499
Compete Rank: 4,260,344

10) FireID

A universal authentication system that makes accessing internet transactions and secure data safer than ever.

Google Page Rank: 4
Alexa Rank: 491,683
Compete Rank: n/a

There are a few other startups running under the radar of attention, but as Jason Fried sais: “Competition that kills isn’t pre-announced - it catches an unsuspecting incumbent by surprise”.

Let me know if there are any you would like to see on the list.

18 May 2010 · Comments