Rapelang Rabana and fellow University of Cape Town students built Yeigo, one of South Africa’s first free mobile VoIP services.
Started in 2006 while at university, Yeigo won the first Enablis Business Plan competition and was bought by a South African operator in 2009.
After graduating with honours from the University of Cape Town in 2005, Rapelang Rabana and fellow classmates created a pioneering mobile VoIP application called Yeigo in 2006. It won the inaugural Enablis Business Plan competition.
An early South African success
Yeigo became South Africa’s first free VoIP mobile services provider. In 2009 Telfree, a South African next-generation operator, bought a majority stake, and Rabana led Telfree’s research and development until 2012.
In 2013 she founded Rekindle Learning, and in 2023 became co-CEO of Imagine Worldwide.
What students can learn
Yeigo shows that a group of students, a competition prize and a well-timed idea can build a company that attracts a buyer within a few years. For anyone studying in Cape Town, or anywhere in Africa, it is a clear example of a first venture that opens the door to a longer career.
