When Tsundzuka Mnisi and David Mwangi, co-founders of StelliesKos, first compared notes, they realised they were looking at the same problem from different angles. Tsundzuka had watched a close friend navigate university while quietly experiencing food insecurity. “He had no idea when his next meal was coming, while most of us in residence had food on the table every day. That sat with me,” he recalls.
Across town, David saw overcrowded queues at The Neelsie Student Centre and delivery apps far too expensive for a student budget. “During peak periods like exams, The Neelsie becomes overwhelmingly busy. The long queues and limited access make it genuinely difficult for students to eat,” he says.
When they connected, they realised this was not a personal inconvenience but a systemic gap. By December 2024, StelliesKos was born.
A systemic gap, not a personal inconvenience
David’s inspiration came as three realisations: the Neelsie’s chaos, his struggle to find familiar food from Johannesburg, and the discovery that his peers shared the same experience. Tsundzuka’s entry point was more personal. “Once David and I compared notes, we knew this was not a personal problem. It was a systemic one,” he shares.
He got to work designing the business model and logistics, but the real fuel came from conversations with lecturers, students and people from different walks of life. Every conversation confirmed what he already knew and made him more determined.
David grew up in Johannesburg South with both parents as entrepreneurs. He says; “I grew up with the family business. This experience highly influenced my love for business.” Tsundzuka, from Phalaborwa in Limpopo, watched his father build from scratch. Then a high school talk by entrepreneur Rivo Mhlari lit something in him. “That talk made the idea of entrepreneurship feel real and possible,” he recalls.
StelliesKos started in December 2024 with an idea, a group chat, and personal savings. By late 2025 they had a beta web app and media features. The web app launched in March 2026. Today, they have over 980 registered users (approaching 1 000) and eight restaurant partners. A full mobile app is planned for August 2026.
But the bigger evolution was the mission. What started as a delivery platform became a two-part ecosystem. The commercial side empowers local vendors. The KOSFORNOTHING Foundation, separately registered as a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO), is dedicated to making sure no student goes hungry.
The Balance of bootstrapping
Tsundzuka admits the hardest challenge was balance. He says; “Last year I was learning how to run a startup while trying to graduate. There were moments where both felt like they were pulling me apart.” On operations, early mistakes in communicating with vendors taught him that “trust takes time to build and you cannot shortcut it.”
David adds that facing food insecurity on campus changed everything. “Research shows that food-insecure students are significantly less likely to graduate. Their potential should not be limited by whether they can afford their next meal. That conviction led us to launch the KosForNothing Foundation.”
Calling on restaurants and donors
The team invites Stellenbosch restaurants to join the platform without the high commissions of big apps. They also call on donors and businesses to support the KOSFORNOTHING Foundation through sponsorships. The August 2026 mobile app launch is their next milestone.
Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
“Believe in your idea, genuinely. But then you must work hard enough to match that belief,” says Tsundzuka. He recommends the Stellenbosch University LaunchLab and Stellenbosch Network. “Those environments, the questions they make you ask yourself and the people you meet, matter more than most realise,” he says.
David adds; “Speed is everything. Get the idea to a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as soon as possible. The idea will only be perfect after it has launched. Don’t fall into the emotion of wanting to perfect a non-public product.”
From a group chat and personal savings to nearly 1 000 users and an NPO, Tsundzuka Mnisi and David Mwangi are proving that entrepreneurship can feed both stomachs and future of many.
