eBusiness Weekly
Leslie Mupeti
2022 has been an eventful year as far as brands are concerned. Many brands have been birthed, many have been re-birthed and some have folded.
As 2022 draws to a close, this is the perfect opportunity for the branding and marketing teams to reflect on the year, review their branding strategies, get rid of what didn’t work and do more of the strategies that worked as we go into 2023 (taking into account the approaching election season).
I have compiled a list of the 20 brands that may be considered small/medium now who I believe have a shot at becoming superbrands in the future.
The list is pretty diverse covering industries such as manufacturing, beauty, technology, entertainment, retail and agriculture. This list is in no particular order.
- LEC Biotech
Founded in 2011 by Sicelo Dube, LEC Biotech is a laboratory equipment, chemicals and lab consumables supplying company. Their clientele includes schools, colleges and universities around Zimbabwe. LEC Biotech has branches in Zimbabwe (Harare, Bulawayo and Masvingo), South Africa and Zambia.
The company has three subsidiaries namely; Clean box (a household detergents manufacturing and disinfection arm), Elevate Trust (a youth leadership and capacity-building foundation) and Innovators hub club (a youth club which supports students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
- Tech Zim
Founded by Limbikani Makani in 2009, TechZim is an IT media company that publishes news about the latest Tech companies from Zimbabwe and beyond. The company is also involved in Tech themselves with their Techzim Market app, which is used by Zimbabweans to buy airtime, pay utility bills and more. They have been used as a resource for Zimbabwean Tech news by companies such as ZimPapers, Reuters, Newsday, BBC News, Business Insider, news24 and more.
- Glytime foods
Founded in 2018 by Lesley Marange as an agro processing company, Glytime foods sells their health conscious products in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, The UK and they are making inroads into Mozambique and DRC. They have a presence in most of the big retail stores such as Pick ‘n’ Pay and OK Zimbabwe. Glytime foods has been featured on platforms such as BBC. Their products are Halaal certified.
- Vambo Academy
Founded in 2021 by Chido Dzinotyiwei, Vambo Academy is enabling African language learning, translation services and access to indigenous knowledge via its online platform. Bootstrapped from inception, Vambo Academy has over the past eight months received funding from various institutions, such as the Injini ed-tech accelerator and Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO). With the latter, it competed in its Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA), reaching the final in Cape Town.
- Letter Z Music Factory
Founded in 2016 by Leopold Tapiwa Vengesa popularly known as Leoy V, Letter Z Music factory is literally carrying the ZimHipHop industry on their shoulders through their creative videos. They have over 34k subscribers on YouTube. Their most notable videos include the “Fire Emoji video” and they have worked with artists such as Baba Harare, Nutty O, Pumacol, Kae Chaps and Jah Master.
- Money Mart Finance
Money Mart Finance is a FinTech startup founded by CEO Dr Ethel Mupambwa. They commenced operations in 2014 and they have disbursed loans of over 3 million dollars. They were finalists in the African Netpreneur Prize Initiative set up by Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Money Mart was also selected as semi-finalists in the 2023 Fintech Innovation Challenge set up by Women’s World Banking at the Singapore FinTech festival.
- KwaTerry Farm
Founded by Terrence Maphosa, KwaTerry is a farm which is located in Mhondoro Ngezi. Maphosa is leading a charge of young people who are venturing into farming and he has been featured in leading media platforms such as Al Jazeera, The United Nations, Xinhua News and ZBC News. KwaTerry recently expanded into the restaurant business with their first branch which is located in Mhondoro Ngezi.
- The Mesh zw
The Mesh is an inaugural event where youths and young adults have constructive dialogue over food and drink. The program was founded by Jonathan Ralph Kadurira in 2017 and since then an impressive number of speakers such as TV and Radio personality Candice Mwakalyelye, entrepreneurs Lesley Marange, Shacky Timburwa, George Billionaire and Cashel Valley CEO Karen Jiri have spoken at The Mesh. Mudiwa Hood and Brian K are some of the artists who have performed at The Mesh.
- Senditoo
Senditoo is a remittance services company which has a presence in over 140 countries including 39 in Africa. The company was founded in 2016 by Takwana Tyaranini and Ibrahima Soumano. They have an impressive network of over 400 mobile operators and an impressive lineup of investors who have invested millions of dollars into the company.
- Ona Natural Oils
Founded in 2017 by Nigel Ruwona and Obey Gunda, Ona Natural Oils is making inroads in the natural personal care and beauty industry. The company is currently participating in the Eagles Nest export competition where they are finalists. They have attracted an undisclosed investment from Akayi, a Zimbabwean startup incubator.
- Yanaya Lifestyle
Founded in 2016 by Nyaradzo Dhliwayo, Yanaya is a health lifestyle company which caters for health conscious individuals with their unique products and menus. Yanaya operates restaurants and manufactures Vegan products such as fruit smoothies. Their products are stocked in some major retailers which include Pick ‘n’ pay Zimbabwe and they operate more than 7 branches in Zimbabwe. CEO Nyaradzo has won several awards including the prestigious Platinum award at the Megafest business awards.
- Gumiguru
Founded in 2016 by Simbarashe Nyamadzawo, Gumiguru is a B2B consulting company providing services such as company registration and management consulting. The company is well known for its inaugural awards ceremony known as The Gumiguru emerging leaders awards. Previous winners of the awards include Tatenda Samukange of Skylake boreholes, Takemore Mazuruse of Esteem Communications, Jah Prayzah and Arthur Marara.
- Thumeza
Founded by Gugulethu Siso, Thumeza provides working capital solutions for the logistics sector with a revenue model based on collecting a commission for facilitating every transaction on its platform. The startup seeks to be a custodian between transporters and financial partners while providing financiers with sufficient real-time accurate operational history on transporters’ activities to enable an easier, risk-managed flow of funds. The company has already partnered with large organizations such as Pick n Pay and the Zimbabwe Grain Marketing Board.
- Fresh in a box
Fresh in a Box is a startup that delivers boxes of fresh produce direct from farms in Zimbabwe, which can be ordered from its website. The AgriTech company was launched in October 2018 by Kuda Musasiwa and Rufaro Dhliwayo. The company now moves over 2.6 tonnes of vegetables a day with a network of over 1200 farmers. The company has been featured on international platforms such as BBC and Al Jazeera and they have won several awards and competitions such as the Total Energies StartUpper of the year competition.
- Earground Media
Founded in 2018, Earground is an award winning media platform which focuses on amplifying creative voices in Zimbabwe. The company has partnered with numerous organizations and projects such as Gateway stream, Kayse connect, Shoko festival and The European film festival. This year Earground gave us the Amplifaya festival which had artists like Takura, King Her, Ishan, Feli Nandi, Leo Magozz and Denim Woods performing at the event.
- Axecure Sneakers
Founded in 2010 by Harare Business Woman Future Murombedzi, Axecure sneakers is a sneaker shop which has become a favorite spot for some of the most notable kick heads in Zimbabwe. Axecure has served high profile celebrities which include Freeman, Holy Ten, Mai Titi, Misred, Stunner, Enzo Ishall and more.
- Need Energy
Need Energy is an energy tech startup using Machine learning and AI to create tailor made sustainable energy solutions for consumers. The company was founded in 2015 by Leroy Nyangani and they have raised significant funding from Startup bootcamp Australia and other undisclosed Angel investors.
- Ixar Technologies
Founded by Tinofara Mutovongi in 2018 as a smart phone repairs tech startup. They have branches in Harare, Bulawayo and Zambia. They have trained over 300 technicians in Zimbabwe in smartphone repairing.
- Hatiperi
Founded in 2018 by Tinotenda Matayi, Hatiperi is a clothing brand which has been donned by influential figures such as musician Jah Prayzah and opposition spokesperson Gift Ostallos Siziba. This brand definitely has a bright future ahead of it.
- Farm Buzz
Farm Buzz is a bootstrapped drone startup founded by Anesu Mapisa and Emmanuel Marume in 2018. The Agritech startup provides drone solutions to improve efficiency for small and large scale farmers in Zimbabwe. They have now partnered with Alley Capital Group.
Leslie Mupeti is a brand strategist and creative innovator. He can be reached for feedback on [email protected] or +263 785 324 230. His Twitter and Facebook is @lesmupeti
