At Innovation City, we spend a lot of time talking about growth; how businesses acquire customers, build products, and scale. But there’s a layer that sits underneath all of that, quietly determining whether that growth actually materialises: Payments. Not as infrastructure, but as a system that...
Every year, we get a clearer picture of what’s actually being built in South Africa. Not in theory. Not in decks. In real businesses with real customers, real traction, and real pressure. That’s what Startup of the Year has become at Innovation City; a filter for signal. And...
There is a quiet contradiction at the heart of the internet. We move seamlessly across borders - opening accounts, sending money, applying for services, building businesses that operate in multiple markets at once. Yet the systems that are meant to verify who we are remain stubbornly...
Innovation City brings together founders, creatives, and technology teams building globally relevant businesses. Among them is Plan.Net Creativenest South Africa, a digital-first creative studio and part of the international House of Communication network. Working across social-first creativity, digital campaigns, UX/UI design, and scalable content production, the...
Saab Grintek Defence is best known for its work in advanced defence technologies, but behind the engineering sits a longer-term ambition: building South Africa’s next generation of highly skilled technologists and engineers. Through its local operations in Pretoria and Cape Town, Saab Grintek Defence is using...
There’s a quiet shift happening in marketing right now. Search isn’t what it used to be. Social isn’t what it used to be. AI isn’t a future concept anymore. And attention - real human attention - has become the most valuable currency in the room! This year's...
If there was one defining feature of 2025 inside Innovation City, it wasn’t noise or hype; it was follow-through. Across fintech, AI, proptech, marketplaces, infrastructure and services, our members didn’t just talk about what they were building. They launched. They partnered. They expanded. They raised. They...
Bersella Advisors is one of the newest additions to the Innovation City community, bringing a fresh approach to financial advice for founders, scale-ups, and fast-growing companies. Led by Co-Founder & CEO Luca Bersella, the firm blends traditional financial expertise with AI-driven advisory models designed specifically...
For more than a decade, Luuk Winkens has worked in fintech, helping companies scale across African markets through better financial infrastructure. Today, as Head of Growth at NjiaPay, he leads the commercial strategy behind a platform designed to simplify and optimise online payments for South...
If challenger brands are the future, what is the future of the agency? That’s the question Rival, the global consultancy redefining how brands grow, is bringing to Cape Town this November at Innovation City. After four years and over 10,000 hours of research, Rival has published...
