South African Startup Week | Cape Town
Wed Apr 15, 08:00 - Fri Apr 17, 10:00
Makers Landing
ABOUT
Introducing the inaugural South African Startup Week (Cape Town Edition).
Not another conference. A founder-first, city-wide, landmark gathering of the people building and backing South Africa’s most ambitious tech startups and scale-ups.
A three-day event series built for current (and would-be) South African tech founders - each designed to stack on the previous: from inspiration, to execution, to meaningful connection.
Day 1 - INSPIRE (Wednesday, 15 April)
Founder keynotes and candid conversations. Big stories. Honest lessons from real builders.
Day 2 - BUILD (Thursday, 16 April)
Hands-on workshops, hackathons and masterclasses across product, marketing, sales, finance and go-to-market. Practical sessions designed for operators in the trenches.
Day 3 - CONNECT (Friday, 17 April)
Run Club, coffee meetups, investor engagement, ecosystem conversations and curated networking. Because relationships are the real long-term capital.
The inaugural edition has been designed hand-in-hand with the local founder ecosystem - and is hosted in collaboration with more than 25+ ecosystem partners. So whether you’re raising, shipping, hiring, validating, pivoting, or preparing to launch - this week is for you.
Across three days, expect:
• Keynotes
• Firesides
• Workshops
• Masterclasses
• Hackathon Streams (x4)
• Curated networking
• Ecosystem meetups
• Investor engagement
Who should attend?
• Founders (pre-seed to scale).
• Startup operators
• Investors & VCs
• Corporate innovation teams
• Builders, enablers & ecosystem leaders
• Talent looking to join high-growth companies
Join the people building what’s next and secure your ticket for South African Startup Week 2026.
NEED TO KNOW
Arrival
Registration from 08:00 - 09:00am and we start promptly at 09:15am.
We reserve the right to admit late-comers until the soonest intermission.
Parking
Paid parking available on site. We recommend using ride-sharing or e-haling services if/where possible.
Food and Drinks
Food and beverages will be available throughout the day, at your own expense. Makers Landing offers a variety of vendors for any dietary requirements.
Each attendee will also receive a power-packed swag bag on arrival, which includes water and snacks to keep you going.
Tickets
* Tickets are mandatory and do not include plus-ones.
* Tickets are not refundable, but transferable until 5pm on 13 April 2026. To transfer your ticket, do so directly via logging into your Quicket account or emailing us ([email protected]) with the name/surname/email of your replacement.
AGENDA | DAY ONE | INSPIRE
08:00 - 09:00 | Arrival & Registration
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09:15 - 09:30 | Welcome & Opening Remarks
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09:30 - 10:15 | Panel | PIVOT
Honest stories about changing direction and building momentum
Tinashe Ruzane FLEXCLUB | Bevan Du Casse YOYO | Joy Des Fountain NILE
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10:15 - 10:25 | Transition / Comfort Break
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10:25 - 11:10 | Panel | SCALE
From traction to growth. The operational, cultural and capital challenges of scaling.
David Torr UCOOK & FARO | Kagisho Masae MATRICLIVE | Jon Kornik PLENTIFY
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11:10 - 11:40 | Coffee & Networking Break
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11:40 - 12:20 | Keynote | Katlego Maphai
What I wish I knew. The hindsight lessons of building Yoco.
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12:20 - 13:20 | Lunch
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13:20 - 14:05 | Panel | ACQUIRED
Selling, lessons and what happens after the headline.
Arjun Khoosal KANDUA | Jessica Boonstra YEBOFRESH | Jonathan Smit PAYFAST
14:05 - 14:15 | Transition / Comfort Break
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14:15 - 15:00 | Panel | SA TO THE WORLD
Building locally, selling globally. Stories of building a global business.
Thalia Pillay ORCA FRAUD | Daniel Katz EZEEBIT | Russel Luck SWIFTVEE
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15:00 - 15:30 | Coffee / Networking Break
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15:30 - 16:10 | Panel | Dinesh Patel
The Big Picture: The journey of starting, scaling and surviving Orderin - one of SA's first food delivery startups.
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16:10 - 16:30 | Close and Networking
AGENDA | DAY TWO | BUILD
08:00 - 09:00 | Arrival & Registration
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09:15 - 09:30 | Welcome & Opening Remarks
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09:30 - 10: 45 | WORKSHOP STREAM ONE
Product Discovery | delivered by NEDROCK
Market Segmentation | delivered by METAVOLVE
Fundraising | delivered by ESquared Investments
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10:45 - 11:15 | Coffee & Networking Break
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11:15 - 12:30 | WORKSHOP STREAM TWO
Legal | delivered by DOMMISSE ATTORNEYS
Finance | delivered by FINOVATE
Design | delivered by CANVA
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12:30 - 13:30 | Lunch
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13:30 - 14:45 | WORKSHOP STREAM THREE
Content Strategy | delivered by TIKTOK
The Startup AI Toolkit | delivered by JEM.X
Founder Wellness | delivered by STROVE
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14:45 - 15:15 | Coffee Break
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15:15 - 16:30 | WORKSHOP STREAM FOUR
Vibe Coding | delivered by LOVABLE
Go-To-Market/Sales | delivered by GTMX
Final Topic | TBA.
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16:30 | ClOSE
AGENDA | DAY THREE | CONNECT
06:30 - 07:00 | Arrival & Registration
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07:00 - 08:00 | Ecosystem Walk / Run
Run, jog or Wall - all are welcome. Join us on the Sea Point promenade for our ecosystem walk/run, in partnership with Strove.
Limited to 200 participants
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08:00 - 09:00 | Coffee & Connect
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18:30 - 21:00 | The Investors Table
Private dinner for active investors into South African Startups. By acceptance of registration only
ABOUT SCZA
Startup Club ZA is the home for South African tech startups building the future.
We exist to serve South African tech founders building the future. Our mission is to connect, resource and showcase local startups - increasing access and creating opportunities for world-class technology ventures to emerge locally and compete globally. We believe strong ecosystems are built on relationships, trust and stewardship - not hype or gatekeeping. Whether you’re just starting out or scaling something ambitious, you’re welcome at Startup Club ZA.
COMMUNITY - We run South Africa’s largest tech startup and investor network, convening the ecosystem through flagship events, national initiatives and shared experiences to learn, build and connect.
PLATFORM - We build digital infrastructure for the ecosystem. Platform ZA is our national discovery, jobs, media and resources platform — designed to increase visibility, access and opportunity across the country.
CAPITAL - We are building a founder-aligned, permanent-capital investment vehicle to back high-quality teams identified through our work, prioritising stewardship and long-term value creation.
IMPACT - Founded: 2023 | Events hosted: 30 | In-person attendees: 10,000+ | Digital reach: 30,000+
Founder-first. Community-led. Proudly South African.
Learn more at https://startupclubza.com/ Contact: [email protected]