The five finalists selected for Diva Pitch at Digital Divas Summit 2026 are building in very different industries. Their businesses span weddings, fashion, recruitment and financial management. Look more closely, however, and a common theme emerges: each founder has identified a point at which an existing system makes life unnecessarily difficult.

They are not introducing technology for its own sake. They are using it to remove friction, improve decision-making and give people greater confidence in what happens next.

For Claudia Katie White, founder of Knot New., the problem lies in the cost and complexity of planning a wedding. KnotNew brings several parts of the bridal journey into one platform, allowing couples to buy and sell pre-loved wedding items, connect with venues and service providers, plan their weddings and find inspiration. Its secure escrow-based marketplace also responds to a growing demand for celebrations that are more affordable and less wasteful.

Chi Chinake is addressing a different source of uncertainty: buying clothing online without knowing how it will look or fit. Her business, Malva by Fashion Labs, allows shoppers to try on clothing from more than 100 online stores using a digital twin before making a purchase. It is a simple proposition built around one of e-commerce’s most persistent problems: customers are still being asked to make highly personal purchasing decisions with limited information.

Fashion is also the focus of Nyaniso Tutu-Burris’ OneThread.Africa, but her attention is on the brands behind the products. As sustainability standards become increasingly important in global markets, African fashion businesses need credible ways to demonstrate their practices. OneThread is building the infrastructure to help them measure, document, verify and trace that work. For smaller brands hoping to compete internationally, this is becoming a commercial requirement rather than a reputational extra.

In recruitment, Wanita Goodwin is tackling the time, cost and inconsistency involved in finding the right people. Job Crystal combines AI automation with human recruitment expertise to help businesses hire faster, more fairly and more effectively. At a time when AI is changing both how candidates apply and how employers assess them, its model recognises that automation can improve the process without removing human judgement from it.

Elizabeth Ras (Strydom), founder of Paystashio, is focusing on another operational burden faced by growing businesses: managing everyday expenditure. The platform gives SMEs greater control over expenses through virtual cards, configurable spending rules and automated receipt matching. It replaces fragmented approvals, missing receipts and limited oversight with a system designed to make business spending easier to manage.

These are the five businesses that will take to the stage at Digital Divas: SHIFT on 28 August 2026.

Each founder will have four minutes to present her business in front of an audience of founders, investors and ecosystem leaders. The pitch will be followed by an audience vote, with the winner receiving a one-year Innovation City membership and access to its founder community, events, workspace and startup ecosystem support.

A pitch competition can reward only one founder. But the strength of this year’s finalists lies in the range of problems they have chosen to solve and the practical nature of their responses.

They are building businesses around moments when people hesitate, waste time, lose visibility or lack trust. That is often where the most useful innovation begins.

Join us at Innovation City on Friday, 28 August, to meet the founders and watch Diva Pitch 2026 live: https://www.radi.co.za/events/digital-divas-summit-2026