Business AI, a South African start-up backed with seed capital from Mustek, has launched an AI marketplace for businesses.
The marketplace promises to connect South African companies to “vetted, enterprise-ready artificial intelligence solutions and accredited service providers”.
Business AI CEO Rudi Dreyer said: “The marketplace gives African enterprises access to the same trusted technologies as the world’s largest players – but in a way that’s local, accessible and built for how we actually do business.”
The platform allows companies to move their workloads to whichever AI tools make most business sense, Dreyer said – whether that’s for cost, security or AI sovereignty reasons.
It has built the platform through a partnership with Beyond Now. It said its early clients include Mustek, Woolworths, Italtile and Bidvest.
Earlier this year, Mustek announced it would invest R7-million for a 51% stake in Business AI.
Mustek CEO Hein Engelbrecht said: “Anything and everything that’s got to do with AI, after vetting, will be able to present their services and support on the marketplace, and transact through the platform.”
In its financial results for the year ended 30 June 2025, Mustek noted that its acquisition of a majority stake in Business AI went through after it closed its financial year on 1 August.
Vetted
“It will provide enterprises with a single, trusted environment to access vetted AI vendors, products, platforms, solution providers and data centres,” Mustek said. “While generative AI has moved through its initial hype cycle, enterprises are now focusing on practical AI use cases with measurable returns, particularly in analytics, automation and cybersecurity.
“We are well positioned to capture growth in AI-enabled hardware, software and services, while also expanding our role as a value-adding partner to vendors and resellers.”
Read: Mustek in strong second-half turnaround, hikes full-year dividend
Dreyer, Business AI’s CEO, was previously chief business environment officer at 4Sight Holdings. He left 4Sight in July 2024. Andre Hogewoning is the company’s chief operating officer and is a former CIO of Value Logistics. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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