List of Zimbabwean web start-ups formed in the last 4 years

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This is a follow-up article to my post Why most Zimbabwean Start-ups fail.  After reading some of the comments and discussions, I felt the need to share with everyone the list of Start-ups I compiled during my research for the first article. Below is the list, I hope it will help you in whatever way you want.

You will notice that I might have omitted some Start-ups, please forgive me; either I have never heard of them or they have simply skipped my mind. I have also not included some because I don’t consider them start-ups since they are funded by well-established organisations with deep pockets for example vPayments and EcoCash.

The list might not be as long as some critics would want, but it represents a great deal of potential and hope. Over 50 start-ups in 4 years translates, on average, to more than 1 start-up every month. That’s quite impressive and promising and statistics can be drawn with a good level of confidence. The only sad thing is that from this list less than 10 are really doing well or have a promising future. Some have even halted operations and the websites are now “offline”.

Classifieds

www.zimbolist.co.zw
www.bargains.co.zw
www.zimbabwe-classifieds.com
www.dhiri.co.zw
www.zimazon.co.zw
www.tengesa.com
www.zimspace.com

 

Real Estate

www.propertieszimbabwe.com
www.propertylink.co.zw
www.pageproperties.co.zw
www.263properties.com
www.zimmove.com
www.rentorbuy.co.zw  – the website is offline

 

Jobs

www.jobs247.co.zw
www.onlinejobs.co.zw
www.comehometozim.com
www.jobszimbabwe.com

 

Vehicles and Parts

www.zimautotrader.co.zw
www.car.co.zw
www.cheki.co.zw
www.autoguide.co.zw
www.cartraders.co.zw
www.zimcarsales.co.zw
www.autogateway.co.zw
www.junechildkinetic.com

 

Directories

www.zimyellow.com
www.yellowpages.co.zw
www.finditfast.co.zw
www.dariro.com

 

Blogs & Magazines

www.techzim.co.zw
www.techunzipped.co.zw
www.technomag.co.zw
www.consumerizim.com
www.footballzone.co.zw
www.helloharare.co.zw
www.finx.co.zw – Financial Express

 

Travel & Accommodation

www.mukela.com

 

Food & Recreation
www.eatout.co.zw

 

Payments & Remittances

www.virtualbank.co.zw
www.lendme.co.zw
www.easi.co.zw

 

Mobile

www.ribe.co.zw
www.text.co.zw

 

Other

www.rlms.co.zw Online Cattle Auction
www.vs.co.zw – Anti Virus

Please feel free to add to this list.

This gust article was written by Concern Shoko. Concern  is a software developer and CEO of web hosting company Mega24.co.za. He is also the brains behind Zimautotrader.com.

20 comments

  1. Tindo UK

    Thanks for the list Mr Editor but it would have really helped if you had pointed out which ones are doing well and those which have failed.I love Techzim for all this priceless info,cheers

  2. Tafadzwa USA

    Thanks a lot but you left out 2 directories http://www.zimyellowindex.com and http://www.yelp.co.zw

    1. tinm@n

      yelp is brazen theft of an identity. Then again, perhaps if it becomes popular with time, it could court a settlement

  3. SaFaith

    You left out Bulls n Bears (www.bulls.co.zw) techno comrade!

    1. Prosper Chikomo

      Bulls in my view is no longer a start-up but the grandfather of financial news websites. I remember reading about one if its founders in Zimbabwe Independent Best companies survey of circa 2005/2008. It’s too old, and at the time the guy (co-founder) was 25. he must now be like…54 (ha ha lol) Hope he still has some hair.

  4. SaFaith
  5. tinm@n

    You may need to remove the word “web” in your title. Because some of those “startups” just have websites as complements. (helloharare,finx,vs and maybe even ribe)

    1. tinm@n

      Not to forget http://www.junechildkinetic.com that seems to be a mere brochure site.

      1. fiend

        Haha. opportunistic marketing

  6. Lingani

    I think http://www.zimbojam.com is one popular blog in the entertainment industry that deserves to be mentioned.

  7. Sam Takunda

    Part of a longer list i have on Zim online advertising startups: https://kippt.com/takunda/digest, made for some good laughs on twitter how fast they were showing up. I can’t find the list with the more interesting names though.

  8. Pindile Mhandu

    is this a guiding definition for your list?

    A start-up is a newly created, potentially high growth,
    technology-oriented organization in a phase of development and research
    for markets. Start-ups typically have lower costs, higher risk, and are
    more scalable than established businesses i.e. they can potentially
    grow rapidly with limited investment of capital, labour or land.

  9. Pindile Mhandu

    masiya http://www.povo.co.za
    blog/magazine site

  10. Kelvin

    http://www.frontrow.co.zw Schools Sports Magazine

  11. Greg Chiponda

    the correct link for finx is http://www.finxzim.com/ additional start-up blogs include http://itnewszimbabwe.co.zw/

  12. Damian

    don’t forget thedirectory.co.zw

  13. Tapiwa ✔

    Submitted without comment “Your website is not a startup” http://blog.crranky.com/startup/your-startup-is-not-a-startup-its-just-a-website/

    Edit: decided to add a comment. Guys, we might have contention on the exact definition of a startup, but I think we can agree that a website is not a startup. It’s reasonable to think of a startup as an organisation.

    Setting up a website is easy, all it takes is 30 minutes and $15 (includes domain *and* hosting) – setting up an actual startup with real revenue? Not as easy

    1. tinm@n

      True. Out of hype and being fashoinable, people are eager to brand websites as startups…like this here: http://www.junechildkinetic.com. How on earth is that a startup. If the author considers that a startup, then every .co.zw is… and a flyer is a business, and so is a newspaper ad or a television advert.

  14. Vongs

    There is an online florist http://www.maruwa.co.zw

  15. Vongs

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