Workshack

What really moves the needle in VC? The road to a venture-backed business is rarely a straight line. Join The Open Letter at Workshack for an exclusive evening with Brett Commaille, partner & co-founder of Hlayisani Capital. With over 20 years of experience in the African startup ecosystem, Brett Commaille isn’t just sharing theory - he is giving you the raw, honest truth on what it takes to scale, survive and succeed! Whether you are currently pitching, scaling, or just starting your journey …this is the room you need to be in. 🗣️ Building & Scaling Venture-Backed Businesses 📅 Thursday, 30 July 2026 ⌚ 17h00 to 21h00 📍 Workshack Huge thanks to The Open Letter, Capitec, Cell C Business and Cloud On Demand for making this possible! As a Workshack member you can secure yourself a free ticket. Chat to Carla Pietersen fast because they are limited and highly coveted! #Workshack #StartupLife #VentureCapital #BuildingAndScaling #Founders

We love seeing our Members thrive and this captures exactly what makes our location so special. At Workshack, our focus has always been simple: create an environment where businesses can connect, support one another and unlock new opportunities. Hearing that our workspace helps teams feel at home, showcase their best work and spark new connections (whether around a boardroom table or a bonfire) is exactly why we do what we do. We are incredibly proud to have codebow and Andrew Cardoza and team as part of our community.

Sharing an article I wrote following the Climate & Manufacturing panel during the BRAIN Bootcamp in Stellenbosch, South Africa, hosted by Open Startup, Octoco, and Workshack. 📄 Sustainable Manufacturing in Africa: Designing the Transition The core insight: sustainable manufacturing in Africa is not just a technology challenge. It is a systems design challenge. During the panel, leaders across industry, academia, and investment unpacked what it actually takes to move from ambition to execution. We discussed fragmented regulatory systems, data interoperability gaps, commercialization bottlenecks, capital intensity, and the unique opportunity embedded in Africa’s early-stage energy transition. A few themes that stood out to me: • Climate tech operates high in the value chain, requiring patient capital and deep technical integration • Interoperable data standards are foundational for AI-enabled supply chains • Africa has the rare opportunity to design energy and industrial systems without heavy legacy constraints • The university-to-market pipeline must accelerate if industrial innovation is to scale The article reflects insights shared by Chifae Laazouzi, Brandon Paschal, Prof. Cristina Trois, @CJ van Rooyen, and Mwiche Mukoma, whose perspectives grounded the conversation in operational and investment realities. For me, this experience reinforced something we explore deeply in the MIT EMBA program: scaling innovation in emerging markets requires institutional design, capital alignment, and long-term strategic commitment. Sustainable manufacturing is not a single breakthrough. It is coordinated execution across ecosystems. Thank you to MIT Sloan, especially Johanna Hising DiFabio, Dr.Phil Budden, and the entire team, for bridging the gap between classroom learning to hands-on global ecosystem building. Grateful to Open Startup (under Houda Ghozzi, PhD leadership), the BRAIN accelerator community, and the founders building across the continent. Trenika L. Fields Tamoya Hopkins Andrea Shepherd Michael A. Celone JD, MBA Jennifer Miles-Thomas, MD, MBA Ayo O Kristy Morse Shawn Fried @szymon Kisimbi Kyumwa Thomas Read more here → https://lnkd.in/dYypfnPS #BRAIN #BRAIN5 #OpenStartup #SustainableManufacturing #advancedmanufacturing #manufacturingtech #ClimateTech #MITEMBA #MITSLOAN #EmergingMarkets #IndustrialStrategy #ENTREPRENEURSHIP #ECOSYSTEMBUILDING #SystemsThinking

We were proud to host the Deploying DeepTech at Scale: Health & Climate in Africa event. The manufacturing panel highlighted a critical conversation around supply chain resilience, local sourcing, and scaling climate-conscious innovation across African industries. These are the kinds of practical, forward-thinking discussions we love seeing happen in our space. Thank you to Octoco, BRAIN, Open Startup and their programme partners, and the incredible panel for bringing such valuable insight into the room. #Workshack #Innovation #DeepTech #ClimateTech #AfricanInnovation

✨📚This book launch was buzzing📚✨ Workshack had the honour of hosting the intimate launch for Gerhard Swart's groundbreaking book, Hope Arising📖✍🏻 We had to keep this under wraps 🤫 as the gathering was primarily for leaders in innovation and entrepreneurship and the brilliant minds who played a pivotal role in the development of South Africa’s first electric vehicle - the JOULE🚗💡   Hope Arising isn’t just about an ambitious engineering project - it’s a captivating narrative that dives into the trials and triumphs of creating SA’s first electric car🚘🔋The story shines a light on perseverance, innovation and the invaluable lessons learned along the way 🔌 As South Africans, we take pride in our ability to innovate, and this story is a powerful reminder that our dreams can drive change ⚡🚀 ️ #HopeArising #JOULE #Workshack #Innovation

🤖 Passion meets play at the Octoco x InventAfrika Hardware Hackathon 🤖 This past weekend, Workshack witnessed the incredible magic that happens when the joy of creativity and curiosity in your work is reignited 🪄💡 Right here at Workshack, our member Octoco hosted 40 bright engineering minds from Stellenbosch University - Faculty of Engineering and University of Cape Town ✨🏛️ They spent 20 hours building and inventing under the theme "Playful Machines"⚙️🔩 The energy was electric as the teams transformed their wild ideas into amazing prototypes! A huge shoutout to the winners, Ohm Squad, for their impressive "Macaroon Madness" - a gesture-controlled sorting game with real potential for occupational therapy! 🧮💪🏼 Also to our member Octoco for organizing this incredible event which truly encapsulates the spirit of #WorkHappy at Workshack 🙌🏼 when you're free to explore your imagination, creativity flows! 🚀🔥 #PassionForWork #Engineering #FutureofTomorrow

What an event 🚀 In the words of our founder “it is collaborations like these that energise our Community” ⚡✨ ️ An evening to remember ... from the vibe, people and energy to the inspiration, honesty and insights from the main panel event hosted by Renier Kriel, the CEO of The Open Letter and Malan Joubert, founder of FireID and start-up guru.🔥🧨 More than just a networking event - even the pre and post event agenda was electric with crucial startup knowledge, ways to introduce AI within enterprise, bold ideas and real conversations featuring The Founder Collab, Outsourced CFO, Octoco, Sidekicklabs and Cloud On Demand💡🧠 A huge shoutout to our Community for being a part of the magic and making it an unforgettable event 🫵🏻🌿 #Workshack #TheOpenLetterEvent #Startups #Founders