He aims to help businesses boost their performance by providing customized WhatsApp solutions that enhance customer engagement.

Jonathan Elcock (photo) is a South African tech entrepreneur and the CEO/Cco-founder of rather.chat, a startup specializing in developing AI-powered chatbots.

Founded in 2017, rather.chat creates chatbots designed to help businesses of all sizes and sectors market their products, close sales, and interact with customers via WhatsApp. These chatbots can conduct conversations with potential clients while gathering essential information for the brands they represent.

The company aims to revolutionize how businesses communicate with their customers by strengthening relationships and expanding reach. To date, the rather.chat platform has facilitated interactions with over 15 million South Africans through its chatbots.

“Scaling sales and service is tough. I’ve lived through the headaches of trying to meet customer expectations using call centers, SMS and email automations. I eventually reached the conclusion ‘there had to be a better way’, that’s why I started rather.chat,” explains Jonathan.

The tech entrepreneur graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science. His career began in 2010 at Zestlife, a financial services provider, where he worked in product development. In 2013, he moved to the company’s call center operations department. From 2014 to 2017, he served as Head of Sales and Commerce at MiWayLife, a South African insurance company.

Melchior Koba