Focus {07}
Commerce infrastructure
Who builds the warehouses, cold rooms and pick-up points African commerce still needs?
Why it matters
Much of what holds South African commerce back is physical: deliveries that fail, stock that spoils without cold storage, stores that close in power cuts, and too few places to shop where people live. AI can’t copy a well-placed warehouse. We test these ideas small, with shared or rented assets, before anything is bought.
What we want to testQuestions for the lab.
- 01
Can a network of spaza shops and small stores work as pick-up points that cut failed deliveries?
- 02
Would small food brands pay for shared cold storage by the shelf, instead of renting a whole room?
- 03
Can backup power sold as a monthly service keep small retailers trading through outages?
Open problemsWorth a company?
- 01
Deliveries to townships and rural areas fail or cost too much, so many homes never get online orders.
Pitch a fix - 02
Small food and fresh brands can’t afford their own cold chain, so they can’t grow beyond their area.
Pitch a fix - 03
Power cuts close small stores and spoil stock, and backup power costs too much up front.
Pitch a fix - 04
There are too few affordable, formal places to trade where many South Africans live.
Pitch a fix
Got a commerce problem worth a company? We want to hear it.
A few lines is enough: the problem, who has it and why now.