{"id":609494,"date":"2025-09-03T11:59:32","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T09:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=609494"},"modified":"2025-09-03T12:00:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T10:00:43","slug":"multichoice-backed-smartphone-learning-app-makes-mark-on-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/smartphones\/609494-multichoice-backed-smartphone-learning-app-makes-mark-on-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"MultiChoice-backed smartphone learning app makes mark on South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Limu Lab, a MultiChoice Innovation Fund (MIF) supported app designed for children to learn and engage in African languages, has accumulated over 1,000 downloads and piloted content on Showmax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Launched in January 2024, Limu Lab uses technology to make indigenous language learning interactive, accessible, and fun for children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It integrates animations, gamified activities, and multi-sensory learning features to build literacy and confidence among young learners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;When Sifiso Danisa tried to find a digital tool to help her daughter learn isiZulu, she was shocked at how little was available,&#8221; says MultiChoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Together with co-founder Sphumelele Sibeko, she turned that frustration into Limu Lab, a start-up reimaging how children learn and love their mother tongues.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Sibeko, the team didn&#8217;t just want to develop another educational app, but instead one that children look forward to using.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We wanted a digital platform that children actually enjoy using \u2014 where technology is the bridge between culture and curiosity,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Limu Lab is designed to fill a particular gap: the shortage of African language content in digital learning ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Millions of South African children interact with mobile devices daily, but most of the apps they encounter prioritise English or global content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The truth is, when my daughter wanted to learn isiZulu, I couldn&#8217;t find a single high-quality app that reflected her identity,&#8221; says Danisa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;That moment was frustrating, but it was also a clear business signal. If parents and teachers don&#8217;t have tools, children lose the opportunity to see their own languages represented in tech.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through iterative development and user testing, Limu&#8217;s first prototype evolved into a fully-fledged platform that allows children to see, hear, and repeat words through playful characters, rhymes, and games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The MultiChoice Innovation Fund gave us more than capital,&#8221; said Sibeko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The leadership coaching was pivotal. It helped us play to our strengths as founders and think like a scalable tech business, not just a passion project.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since its launch in January 2024, Limu Lab has recorded the following achievements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Surpassed 1,000 app downloads in its first year.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Piloted content on Showmax in December 2024.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Partnered with SuperSport Schools on a national campaign.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Joined the Mastercard Foundation Fellowship in March 2025.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Signed its first quintile 1-3 school onto its platform in August 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;These milestones point to a growing appetite for localised edtech solutions, especially those that address South Africa&#8217;s literacy challenges,&#8221; said MultiChoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As women without traditional coding or engineering backgrounds, Danisa and Sibeko have had to navigate scepticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We are often underestimated. People assumed we couldn&#8217;t build a credible tech business without a male CTO,&#8221; says Sibeko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;But what we&#8217;ve learnt is that you don&#8217;t need to code everything yourself to innovate. You need a clear vision of the problem and the right network to execute it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1600\" src=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Limu-Labs2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-609504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Limu-Labs2.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Limu-Labs2-300x400.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Limu-Labs2-600x800.jpg 600w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Limu-Labs2-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Limu-Labs2-1152x1536.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since launching in January 2024, Lime Lab has accumulated more than 1,000 downloads, piloted content on Showmax, and signed-on its first school in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":609497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17934],"tags":[101292,475,99859,101293,78340,101294],"class_list":["post-609494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smartphones","tag-limu-lab","tag-multichoice","tag-multichoice-innovation-fund-mif","tag-sifiso-danisa","tag-south-african-languages","tag-sphumelele-sibeko"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609494"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609494"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":609505,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609494\/revisions\/609505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}