03 Dec Spotlighting Success: Innovation City’s Member Achievements in 2024

Posted at 10:41h in Innovation City Members by

Innovation City Cape Town continues to be a beacon for tech entrepreneurs and innovators, celebrating remarkable achievements while setting ambitious goals for the future. At the Founders Lounge, an exclusive Innovation City event for members, leaders from the ecosystem gathered to share their biggest wins of 2024 and what lies ahead for 2025. The stories they told are a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation, and bold ambition. Here’s a look at some of the standout moments from this thriving community.

Travelstart: A Unified Vision

For Linda Scott-Hayward (Balme), Head of Partnerships at Travelstart, 2024 marked a transformative year. “For the first time, Travelstart and Club Travel are operating as one company,” she said. This integration has streamlined systems, creating immense value for suppliers and airlines. In addition to this milestone, Travelstart launched its latest product, Travelstart+, which Linda confidently described as “phenomenal” and poised to become “the star of 2025.” The company’s advancements in innovation and technology further solidified its position as a leader in the online travel space, promising continued growth and early-stage innovation in the years ahead.

SmileID: Scaling Security

Similarly, Dustin Strydom of Smile ID celebrated significant milestones, noting that the company surpassed 200 million KYC verifications in 2024; a testament to its rapid scaling. “Scaling dramatically from a volume perspective was a significant milestone,” Dustin explained. Looking ahead, SmileID aims to expand its authentication services, focusing on second-factor authentication to enhance security for high-value transactions. While the company has global ambitions, Dustin emphasised the importance of remaining rooted in Africa, where he sees “plenty to do” and immense potential for growth.

Savant: Global Impact

For Thaheer MULLINS of Savant, 2024 was a validation of his organization’s global ambitions. “We’ve seen what it’s like to have a global portfolio properly for the first time,” he shared, highlighting how Savant-backed companies are trading on multiple continents and securing global corporate customers. As Mullins looks to 2025, he envisions these companies winning in even more territories, while younger startups begin to move into similar spaces. Closing a new fund and investing in innovative African technology, particularly in biotech, engineering, and distributed AI, are also on Savant’s horizon.

NowBoarding: Expanding Horizons

At Now Boarding Digital, MD Leigh Stefanski reflected on a year of impactful collaborations across industries like MedTech, PropTech, AdTech, and EdTech. “Our highlight has been working with passionate innovators and seeing the impact their products have on users,” Leigh said. While South Africa’s innovation ecosystem remains at the heart of Now Boarding’s work, Leigh revealed plans to actively expand their European client base in 2025.

Adbot: Streamlining Success

Meanwhile, NowBoarding’s partnership with Adbot proved equally rewarding. Michelle Geere, founder and CEO of Adbot, praised the collaboration for transforming the user experience of Google Business Profile and Search onboarding. “Every decision was driven by user feedback,” she noted, adding that NowBoarding’s iterative development approach enabled rapid progress. Leigh commended Michelle’s energy and positivity, emphasising how the collaboration made Adbot’s vision for accessible and effective online advertising a reality.

Lumenii: Growth in Focus

For Benjamin S Buckingham of Lumenii, 2024 was a year of growth, with the company achieving a 45% increase in revenue. He credited much of this success to joining the Entrepreneurs’​ Organization(EO) network. As Lumenii looks to 2025, Benjamin shared plans to focus on building proprietary technology and expanding sales efforts, setting the stage for sustained growth.

Turn.io: Scaling Impact

Pippa Yeats representing Turn.io, highlighted the company’s impact in scaling its solutions. “We raised an impact investment round, which was a great milestone for scaling into 2025 and 2026,” she said. Turn.io also celebrated the 10-year anniversary of MomConnect, a government-supported platform that has reached millions of South African mothers with vital health information. For 2025, Pippa revealed an ambitious goal: improving 25 million lives through chat-based solutions, building on the 10 million lives impacted this year.

sens: Beyond Retail

Per Lagerstrom, Co-Founder of sens emphasised Cape Town’s unique position as a hub for innovation. “It’s the best test kitchen on the planet,” he said, citing competitive companies, angel investors, and a willingness to experiment as key factors. While sens has made significant strides in retail, Per noted that the company is exploring new sectors, such as mining and industrials, where human interaction drives business success.

These narratives reflect the collective strength of Innovation City’s ecosystem. From scaling globally to advancing innovation within Africa, the achievements of its members in 2024 serve as inspiration for what lies ahead. Together, they are not just shaping the future of their industries; they are proving that Cape Town is a vital hub for global innovation.

For more on these stories and the remarkable work happening at Innovation City, visit https://innovationcity.co.za/news-room/

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