“The name Khoi pays homage to the resilience and innovations of the Khoi, who used resourcefulness to survive and thrive in the harsh climate at the tip of the continent. Like the Khoi people, we are also the first African company to venture into the manufacturing of smart, wearable technologies,” Thato Mangwegape, an equity partner and Khoi Tech chief marketing officer, explains.
Khoi Tech is a Soweto-based technology company that is quietly trailblazing in the wearable technology industry by being the first African company to develop ground-breaking and pioneering wearable technologies. These technologies not only disrupt the industry but also stake a claim for African developers in this multibillion-dollar sector.
Khoi Tech has already gone to market with a locally produced smartwatch health and fitness smartwatch called Khoi Afriwatch1, wireless earbuds known as Khoi Afripods1, and a business to consumer ecosystem called Khoi.health Group app, which is a cloud-based app that integrates Khoi wearable devices and software platforms to provide modules such as employee wellness, doctor to patient remote monitoring, fleet drivers health management, family wellness and sports teams data analytics.
While the company is steadily carving a name for itself, particularly in the e-health environment, Mangwegape reminds us that the company’s genesis can be traced to humble beginnings in 2013, when it started as Ibiza Tech, where it built point of sales hardware for spaza shops in the townships.
The light bulb moment came during the Mxit craze era in the early noughties in South Africa, and when instant messaging platforms started gaining traction globally.
“It was then that it hit us that the Chinese have WeChat, the Russians have Telegraph, and there was Facebook and other platforms such as MySpace for most of Western countries. We realised that all these applications were foreign-owned, which created a void for a localised messaging platform. It was then that we partnered with Vodacom to launch a messaging app called Chomi to rival all of these messaging platforms. The beauty about Chomi is that it integrated all 11 official languages, it was zero-rated, and it could be accessed via text or USSD, which made it accessible and usable to subscribers using a basic handset,” says Mangwegape.
Consumer uptake was strong, Mangwegape recalls, particularly in Kwa-Zulu Natal, where the messaging platform partnered with Ukhozi FM. Chomi’s tentacles had spread as far afield as Bangladesh, where it earned nearly 1,7 million subscribers.
Mangwegape says Khoi Tech harboured pan African ambitions, and to that end, they partnered with MTN, which offered a gateway into the continent as they have the most expansive footprint across Africa. “MTN agreed to partner with us and took a 30% stake in Chomi. However, a few months later, the relationship went pear-shaped and was terminated,” he recalls.
Redirection not rejection
Mangwegape says the aborted partnership with MTN opened up Khoi Tech to explore other growth opportunities in the ICT space. At the time, we noticed that many ICT conglomerates were expanding their product offerings into wearable technologies and generating huge revenues from the aspirational market in Africa.
The wearable technology industry is massive and growing exponentially. According to Grand View Research, the global wearable technology market size was estimated at $84.2bn in 2024 and is projected to reach $186.14bn by 2030, which signifies a compounded annual growth rate of 13.6% from 2025 to 2030. This growth will be driven by rising concerns about tracking and monitoring obesity and chronic diseases. Some of the top 10 key players in this industry are adidas, Apple, Google, Huawei, Samsung and Xiaomi.
“2020 marked the birth of Khoi Tech. We started the company with a clear mission to disrupt the market and bring valuable, home-grown products to the market that give consumers the same user experience, if not better, than the international brands they are accustomed to. The inclusion of indigenous languages in our gadgets and the user interface for primary voice commands is part of our value proposition that promotes inclusiveness and empowers individuals across different linguistic backgrounds to engage with technology confidently,” says Mangwegape.
Khoi marked an entry into the wearable technology space by launching the wireless earbuds with distinctive African prints, and then went on to develop a smartwatch which focused more on wellness rather than fitness.
The smartwatch was designed and manufactured at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and was timely and relevant as it was the first smartwatch to incorporate a thermometer, which monitored body temperature.
“We decided to focus our smartwatch on providing wellness data such as heart rate, stress levels, sleeping patterns, oxygen saturation and skin and body temperature, with the latter functionality proving very useful during the pandemic. We ran clinical tests with 13 volunteers to compare the data generated by the Khoi Afriwatch1 against medically certified equipment at the Vilakazi Health and Curro Health over three months. We were delighted with the results we received that monitored and tracked oxygen saturation, heart rate, and body and skin temperature, which recorded an accuracy rate of 97%,” says Mangwegape.
The clinical benefits of the smartwatch have not gone unnoticed in the health community. Khoi Tech is currently working with the Wits Oncology Department at the Chris Hani Bara Hospital in the south of Johannesburg to run clinical trials to monitor the activity rate of outpatient cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. “The trial allows the docs to use the Khoi Afriwatch1 to track and monitor the activity rates of these patients, and it sends early warning alerts on sudden changes in body temperature, which enables the medical staff to be more proactive,” says Mangwegape.
Countering cynicism that the wearable technology must just be white labelling of existing products, Mangwegape points out that Khoi Tech products are conceptualised, produced and manufactured by Khoi Tech in partnership with international original equipment manufacturers (OEM) partners using high-quality electronic components and innovative features. The products have undergone rigorous testing and secured endorsement by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), the regulatory body that regulates all health products.
He says the crown jewel of the Khoi Tech product portfolio is Khoi.Health, a B2B app that generates group data analytics such as patient remote monitoring, family wellness, sports data analytics and driver health management. This app, which is completely developed in-house by Khoi Tech, is protected by firewalls and certified by ISO certifications. It addresses the pain points that many employers face on how to use technology to address current occupational health issues.
The solution provides corporate users with a 24/7 overview of the health status of employees on data such as stress levels, which in turn allows companies to design and implement customised strategies to mitigate against these health issues.
Looking ahead
Looking ahead, Mangwegape says the punitive tariffs that the United States administration has slapped on products from many countries bode well for Khoi Tech solutions, as it will render them attractive from a pricing point.
He is buoyant about the prospects of African entrepreneurs playing a more meaningful role in product development, and says that M-Pesa, Yoco and Khoi Tech mark a turning point for the fortunes of African entrepreneurs.
“We see Africa as underrepresented when it comes to technology development, and we believe that technology is not bound by borders. Until now, our continent has been seen as a consumer of technology, and we are here to change this narrative. We are very intentional about developing technology that speaks to Africans, addresses African problems, and is used by Africans. We see an opportunity to venture into the fintech space and use our devices to foster financial inclusion. However, we cannot do this alone. We look forward to working with like-minded partners such as Yoco and Safaricom through M-Pesa to offer pioneering solutions," Mangwegape concludes.
