Innovative start-ups have the edge
Loo Afrique and Cabblow Studios are forging ahead in the small business sector. The reason for their success? An innovative mindset and the ability to come up with novel solutions for real-life problems.
South Africa has many problems, including a lack of access to water and sanitation, unemployment and health issues. But start-ups may be able to address these concerns in innovative ways while also creating employment.
But what makes a start-up innovative? Billy Bokako, senior manager for Climate Innovation Centre South Africa at The Innovation Hub, which supports start-ups, said it needed to solve “real-life problems by using novel solutions”. And that’s exactly what Loo Afrique and Cabblow Studios are doing.
Loo Afrique manufactures advanced toilet technology products, while Cabblow Studios produces medical animation films.
“Loo Afrique is innovative because most toilets are made from porcelain and, once they crack, you need to replace them. This means that the people who need to use them at schools or malls can’t use them until they’re replaced. What we do is manufacture our toilets with plastic, which is much more sustainable because it doesn’t break,” said Rorisang Mpete, the founder of Loo Afrique.
The V-cistern is a 3-litre flushing toilet system that comes fitted with a hand-wash basin, which Mpete said means “schools and malls can start building bathrooms differently because you don’t need additional space for the basins”.
“For example, recently we built the V-cistern for a school. The school principal said that, because of space, they couldn’t keep the chemical detergents to clean the toilets in the bathroom; instead, they had to keep them in the principal’s office. But with the V-cistern installed, they plan on building a cupboard so they can keep the detergents in the bathroom,” said Mpete.
The concept of Loo Afrique came to Mpete around the time that Cape Town was going through a water crisis in 2018. “That made me also consider a toilet that could help save water,” said Mpete. “Instead of using fresh water every time you flush, the toilet uses grey water, which saves three litres of water,” said Mpete.
The point of saving water is especially crucial in South Africa, where the 2030 Water Resources Group has predicted that by 2030 the country’s water demand will outstrip supply.
The 35-year-old had experience in the water and sanitation industry, as he had been a project manager for a company that was installing toilets for clinics in North West. In 2018, after being retrenched, Loo Afrique decided to register his business.
In 2019, Loo Afrique won R300,000 from the Gap Innovation Competition, which allowed it to pitch to the eKasiLabs incubator programme at The Innovation Hub.
Although The Innovation Hub doesn’t provide funding, it does offer mentorship and skills development for start-ups, said Bokako.
“Even though we can help them with some funding, what we do is help them scale up. For that we rely on our ecosystem partners and government. It’s important that we create linkages for them to access because we don’t control the funding,” said Bokako.
Speaking about the eKasiLabs programme, which fosters and cultivates a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across townships in Pretoria and Johannesburg, Mpete said: “eKasiLabs was important in helping us when it came to new patenting and legalisation of the product. As an innovator, you don’t consider such things.”
The coronavirus pandemic shut down many businesses, but those in the water and sanitation sector flourished, as Covid-19 protocols required people to wash or sanitise their hands regularly. Loo Afrique developed portable hand-wash basins and portable hand-wash stations. “These are currently doing well,” said Mpete.
Start-ups are important in a country like South Africa, which has a huge unemployment rate. In the third quarter of 2021, Statistics South Africa said the unemployment rate was 34.9%.
Mpete said that although Loo Afrique only has five staff members, it was creating more “direct and indirect” employment opportunities for plumbers, who install the toilets, and for people to drive educational campaigns on how to use their toilets.
Another start-up that is using inventive ways to create employment while addressing social problems by using the “charming and innovative tool” of animation is Cabblow Studios, which was started in 2017 by Kabelo Maaka. Maaka and her mother, Dr Tshepo Maaka, the head of business development at Cabblow Studios, make an unusual duo, as Maaka studied animation and her mother has been a medical doctor for 27 years.
In 2019, Cabblow Studios won R300,000 in the medical category in the Gap Innovation Competition. Cabblow Studios was in the BioPark Business Incubator at The Innovation Hub. The BioPark programme supports start-ups in the health, agriculture and industrial biotechnology sectors.
Speaking to DM168, Dr Maaka said that Cabblow Studios had produced three short films on diabetes.
“What we’re doing is simplifying our content through animation so that people can fully understand diabetes and its impact,” said Dr Maaka. According to the International Diabetes Federation, there are 1.8 million people living with diabetes in South Africa.
Speaking on the impact that the incubator programme has had on Cabblow Studios, Dr Maaka said it “gave me wings to fly”. With the cash prize from the Gap Innovation Competition, the studio was able to grow from two staff members to eight.
Through the incubator programme, she and her daughter learnt about intellectual property law, “which is paramount for anyone starting a business”, said Dr Maaka.
As for the animation studio’s plans for the future, Dr Maaka said: “We want to grow the adult animation audience because we know that the world is looking at Africa when it comes to creating content. I’m also keen on bringing in more medical people.”
Both Cabblow Studios and Loo Afrique have graduated from the incubation programmes at The Innovation Hub.
The Innovation Hub is a state-funded agency that was established by the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, which is why it is primarily focused on start-ups in Gauteng, but Bokako said it didn’t reject applications for support from other provinces.
As to what entrepreneurs need to consider before they start their businesses, Bokako said you had to have a clearly defined vision of where you were going.
“This can change but you need to have it there,” he said. “Research the market. More often than not, people think they’re doing something new but they’re just regurgitating stuff that’s already out there. You also need to understand your market and know who you’re competing against. And also, ask lots of questions.”