Pioneers Magazine Second Edition
In the second edition of Pioneers Magazine, we celebrate successful tech startups in Cape Town and the Western Cape. Read it here
As the future of business is fast aligning to the 4th Industrial Revolution, Cape Town and the Western Cape is gearing towards this. Wesgro, the official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape, is focused on showcasing our leading tech ecosystem.
The Western Cape, and in particular Cape Town, has been identified in several studies as a leading region on the African continent for the establishment of technology startups and a driver of innovation. Cape Town and the Western Cape is the leading African digital hub and creates a compelling story for investors in the technology space.
Given that the tech sector in Cape Town and the Western Cape has shown tremendous growth it now houses 50% of emerging tech companies in South Africa including several leading tech companies such as SweepSouth, Aerobotics, Yoco and Dataprophet. In 2019, Naspers – headquartered in Cape Town – was named one of the top 10 technology investors in the world alongside companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon.
Cape Town has also been ranked as the most entrepreneurial city in South Africa and hosted tech week in November where digital transformation was promoted with a strong focus on collaboration between stakeholders in the tech ecosystem including representatives from businesses, entrepreneurs and the government. Events included: AfricArena, AfricaCom and AEIS (Africa early stage investor summit).
Cape Town is Africa’s leading digital city and a front runner when it comes to tech innovation and infrastructure. It is also home to several international businesses that are seen to be contributing in the vicinity of R5 billion foreign direct investment. In addition, Cape Town has the largest share of the headquarters of the majority of new startups in the e-commerce ecosystem in SA. There are more than 25 co-working spaces and the majority of the population is under 35 years (63%).
When it comes to talent, Cape Town and the Western Cape is attractive to many students (both local and international) and continues to attract talent, skills and stakeholders globally. Cape Town is ranked the 6th most affordable global tech city out of 30. Cape Town and the Western Cape have a number of coding schools, and our province’s ecosystem also has two globally ranked universities, and these are two of the top three universities in South Africa. The Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) is one of the oldest tech incubators on the continent. These are just some of the reasons why Cape Town and the Western Cape is the leading digital hub in Africa. This edition of Pioneers brings our successes to light by showcasing the talent that drives this dynamic sector.
Want to be featured in Pioneers Magazine? Mail Wesgro’s Head of Marketing: Jean@wesgro.co.za