EasyEquities-owner buys Australian company in R176 million deal 

Purple Group has signed an agreement to acquire Australian-founded Telescope AI in a deal valued at $10.75 million (R176 million). 

Telescope AI focuses on developing AI-related products for capital markets, with its technology reaching 3 million investors across 7 countries. 

Some of its partners include two of the world’s largest trading platforms in IG Group and CMC Markets, alongside EasyEquities. 

The South African platform was Telescope’s first enterprise partner, with the two businesses working together since the AI company’s founding. 

“AI Baskets, one tool from Telescope’s suite, has been live with EasyEquities clients since 2024 and has been used to build more than 58,000 baskets,” Purple Group said in a statement. 

“The deal brings the full Telescope suite, and the team behind it, into Purple Group for deployment across the entire product stack.” 

These products include retail investing, retirement funds, fractional property, and crypto trading services already offered by Purple Group. 

Purple Group CEO Charles Savage explained that he believes that brining Telescope into the fold will have three main outcomes: 

• Acceleration of our product ambitions across all product verticals. 
• Greatly improved customer experiences at every touchpoint. 
• And the discovery, implementation and execution of new product verticals that will come from leveraging our combined distribution, data, team capabilities and AI at scale.

Telescope’s management team will remain in place for a minimum of five years, with its founder joining Purple Group as chief AI officer. 

Telescope continues to operate independently, with the same team, products and global partnerships. 

Purple Group said the transaction was valued at up to $10.75 million (R176 million) and was signed on 10 July 2026. 

Completion is subject to approval from the South African Reserve Bank’s Financial Surveillance Department and customary closing conditions, expected in the ordinary course.

“The Group’s own data and behavioural insight, built over more than a decade, combined with Telescope’s engine, is what makes the acquisition additive rather than experimental,” Purple Group said.  

“For clients, that translates over time into multi-language experiences, personalised insights, conversational tools and, developed carefully with regulators and licensed partners, more affordable financial guidance.”