What: 📅 The WhatsApp Effect: How Startups Are Building Big on a Simple Chat App
When:
Where: 🕳 Innovation City
How much:
🎟️ R50.00Quicket
WhatsApp has quietly become one of the most powerful platforms in South Africa, not just for communication, but for innovation. From community safety to telemedicine, market research to public services, a growing number of startups are building entire business models around this everyday tool.Join us at Innovation City for a conversation about how WhatsApp is enabling scalable, low-friction innovation across sectors, and what that means for founders, investors, and problem-solvers alike.
Date: Thursday 10 JulyTime: 13h00 - 14h30 Venue: Innovation City Cape Town
Who Should Attend:
Founders and product teams exploring platform-based growthCorporates and NGOs looking for scalable outreach toolsResearchers and marketers interested in new consumer insight channelsInvestors and ecosystem builders tracking mobile- first innovationPublic sector innovators working on access, trust, and service delivery
Key Takeaways:
How WhatsApp is being used beyond messaging as a full-service delivery toolWhat makes it ideal for the African context: reach, usability, and trustLessons from startups who’ve scaled real-world impact using WhatsAppOpportunities and constraints when building on someone else’s platformWhat this trend signals for the future of mobile-first innovation in Africa