Two South African apps that won MTN Business App of the Year honours in 2016, on-demand tutoring platform Tuta-Me and home-services app Domestly, built their early success around a shared principle: shape the product around the user’s actual behaviour rather than dictating how the market should work.
Tuta-Me’s path: still running, now inside a larger group
Tuta-Me, founded by Abed Tau and Dylan Hyslop, connected students with vetted tutors on demand. The platform is still operating today as part of Optimi Workplace, a division of the Optimi Group, now serving high school and university students through corporate-sponsored tutoring programmes rather than as a standalone startup.
What made both apps work early on
Domestly’s founders described deliberately not trying to dictate what the market should look like, instead building around what both customers and service providers actually needed. Tuta-Me’s team emphasised getting in front of real users early and understanding their problem directly rather than guessing from a distance.
The founders’ bigger point: African problems need African builders
Both startups made the same argument in 2016 that has only strengthened since: African markets are best served by founders who understand African constraints first-hand, rather than by waiting for an imported model to be adapted locally. That principle continues to shape a generation of South African founders building for the local market’s actual conditions rather than a Silicon Valley template, a digital-economy priority the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies has continued to back.
Frequently asked questions
Is Tuta-Me still operating?
Yes, as part of Optimi Workplace within the Optimi Group, now focused on corporate-sponsored tutoring support.
What made Domestly and Tuta-Me stand out in 2016?
Both won awards at the MTN Business App of the Year Awards for building products shaped around actual user behaviour rather than an imposed model.
What lesson do both startups offer new founders?
Get in front of real users early, understand their specific problem, and build for local market conditions rather than copying an imported model.
Who founded Tuta-Me?
Abed Tau and Dylan Hyslop founded Tuta-Me as South Africa’s first on-demand tutoring platform.
Why does local context matter for African tech products?
Founders who understand local constraints first-hand tend to build more relevant solutions than those adapting a model built for a different market.
Further reading
Originally published in August 2016. Updated September 2026 to confirm Domestly has since scaled into a major local jobs creator and Tuta-Me continues operating under the Optimi Group, well past their 2016 award win.
