South Africa has some of the most talented entrepreneurs in the world! And dam do they understand how to build great brands!
Some of my favourite South African Brands are below (and there are so many I love!)🇿🇦
☕
Platō Coffee (Founded 2019)
Founded by brothers Stephan and Petrus Bredell, Platō started from a shipping container in Centurion after years of entrepreneurial setbacks and failed ventures. Stephan often says he wasn’t originally a coffee guy, he was an entrepreneur looking for the right vehicle. Today Platō has grown into one of South Africa’s fastest-growing coffee brands by focusing on beautiful spaces, strong community, and consistency rather than just selling coffee.
🥤 METALAB (Founded 2020)
Founded by
Jake Axelrod during the Covid pandemic, METALAB emerged from his background in nutrition, personal training, design, and a desire to disrupt what he saw as a stale supplement industry. Instead of building another bodybuilding brand, Jake repositioned protein as an everyday lifestyle product. The result is one of the most distinctive wellness brands to come out of South Africa in recent years.
🎓 @Suits & Sneakers (Founded by
Mark Sham )
Mark has spent years challenging traditional ideas around education, business, and personal growth. What started as content and speaking evolved into Suits & Sneakers : a modern learning and community platform designed around real-world learning, curiosity, and connection. Mark saw early that people wanted more human, practical, and accessible ways to learn outside traditional systems.
🏠 Proper Living (Founded 2019)
Founded by Caspar Lee and Benji Schaffer, and these guys do student living as good as it gets! Proper Living recognised early that younger residents wanted more than accommodation. They wanted flexibility, design, security, convenience, and community. Long before branded living became a global trend, Proper Living was creating a hospitality-driven approach to residential real estate in Cape Town.
☕ Bootlegger Coffee Company (Founded 2013)
Founded by Pieter Bloem, De Waal Basson, and Antonie Basson, Bootlegger was born from a simple frustration: they couldn’t find great coffee before their early morning cycling sessions. What started as a single Sea Point café became one of South Africa’s strongest lifestyle coffee brands. Their growth has always felt authentic : great coffee, strong locations, thoughtful design, and a deep understanding of community.
🇿🇦 What I admire most is that none of these founders followed a traditional playbook.
They built brands around culture rather than categories.
That feels like the future of South African entrepreneurship.
And I think we’re only at the beginning of what this generation of founders will build.
Who are some other South African founders and brands you think are shaping the future? 👇