Author: STARTUP PICNIC
BookVentures Evolves into iZwily: A New Platform for Intellectual Property, Royalties, and Creative Products
South Africa — 01 March 2026 Startup Picnic Venture Studio today announced the development of www.izwily.com, a new platform designed to manage intellectual property, royalties, and creative products through an integrated AI-powered operating system. The initiative builds on earlier work conducted under the working name BookVentures, which was used during the platform’s technical conceptualisation phase.
Read MoreiZwily (formerly VentureBooks) — Africa’s First IP & Storytelling Operating System Set to Launch Thousands of African Books in Africa and Globally
Update (16 March 2026): BookVentures is now iZwily. “At least sixty percent of books sold in African bookstores are not authored by Africans,” says Tiisetso Maloma Johannesburg, South Africa — 17 November 2025 — Startup Picnic Venture Studio has officially launched its first startup, iZwily (formerly VentureBooks), an Africa-first IP and storytelling operating system built…
Read More2025 Guide: A Framework for Navigating and Applying Disruptive Innovation in Africa: Spotting Venture Opportunities
Africa Disruptive Innovation Guide – 2025 2025 Guide: A Framework for Navigating and Applying Disruptive Innovation in Africa: Spotting Venture Opportunities Download the PDF here. Last Update: 30 September 2025 Published: 30 September 2025 Authorship Authored by: Tiisetso Maloma and Startup Picnic Venture Studio
Read MoreStartup Picnic Evolves Into Africa-Focused Venture Studio to Build Scalable Intellectual Property and Publishing Ecosystem
Johannesburg, South Africa – [1 September 2025] – Startup Picnic, a platform that began in 2014 as an informal networking event for entrepreneurs and investors, has officially evolved into Startup Picnic Venture Studio (SPVS), a South African–based, Africa-focused venture studio dedicated to building scalable businesses rooted in publishing, intellectual property (IP), and technology. What started…
Read MoreIntroducing ‘Startup Picnic Academy’ – Rapid Short Courses for Earning A Living and Innovating
Greetings I hope you are well. I wish you a prosperous 2023. Announcing our rapid skills development school: Startup Picnic Academy (www.startuppicnicacademy.co.za).
Read MoreCome network with entrepreneurs at STARTUP PICNIC JHB this Saturday 25 September 2021
Join us this Saturday – 25 September 2021 – for another leg of Startup Picnic. This time we are in Midrand, Gauteng.
Read MoreRecent Posts
- BookVentures Evolves into iZwily: A New Platform for Intellectual Property, Royalties, and Creative Products
- iZwily (formerly VentureBooks) — Africa’s First IP & Storytelling Operating System Set to Launch Thousands of African Books in Africa and Globally
- Venture Investing: Why Material Physics, Not Business Statistics, Points to the Future of Disruptive Innovation
- 2025 Guide: A Framework for Navigating and Applying Disruptive Innovation in Africa: Spotting Venture Opportunities
- Call for Contributors: Book on the Future of Venture Funding in Emerging Markets
- Startup Picnic Evolves Into Africa-Focused Venture Studio to Build Scalable Intellectual Property and Publishing Ecosystem
- Introducing ‘Startup Picnic Academy’ – Rapid Short Courses for Earning A Living and Innovating
- Come network with entrepreneurs at STARTUP PICNIC JHB this Saturday 25 September 2021
- Press Release: Startup Picnic in Jane Furse on 26 October 2019 – The Ultimate Fun Event for Entrepreneurs Comes to Ga Sekhukhene
- STARTUP PICNIC SOWETO – The Ultimate Fun Event for Entrepreneurs Hits Soweto, 14 April 2019
- #BreakfastTalk @ STARTUP PICNIC: Entrepreneurship Struggles and Anxieties, ft. Tebatso Molapo, Tendai Joe, Mark Makhubalo, Kelahloko Mashiloane and Luga Ncala (MC)
- Shoprite launches competition to boost small businesses
- Spring picnic for entrepreneurs – STARTUP PICNIC SPRING EDITION, 29 September 2018
- Introducing Max Lichaba as STARTUP PICNIC 7 April 2018 #BreakfastTalk speaker
- STARTUP PICNIC returns, 7th April 2018 – the coolest entrepreneurship gathering in South Africa
- The Top 3 Best Places to Network in South Africa
- African Tech Startups Raised Funding in Excess of $185.7m in 2015
- Four Steps to Avoid being Ditched by your Regular Clients
- The 5 BIG Myths of Self-Employment
- Chivas Regal’s ‘The Venture’ is Searching for Global Social Entrepreneurs to Award a Share of $1 Million
