Matsi as an entrepreneur: • Founder & CEO of Furaha Afrika Holdings a company with subsidiaries including Furaha Solutions (a joint venture partnership with Work Force, a listed AltX-JSE company), Furaha Investments and Furaha Events. www.furaha.co.za • Co-founded Emerge Business Consultants that provided services that include Supplier Development, Enterprise Development strategy formulation and implementation, BBBEE advisory and verification, Small Medium Enterprise education and capacity training. Matsi as an entrepreneurship ecosystem builder • Co-founder of Venture Central Portal, South Africa’s digital home for entrepreneurs, a portal that aggregates information, opportunities, access to markets, access to funding, and access to resources and tools, to guide entrepreneurs from idea to scale. • Vice-Chairperson of SiMODiSA, an industry association that catalyses and amplifies high growth, high impact entrepreneurship, by providing access to markets, access to social capital and advocating for the growth of the Venture Capital industry and creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem. • Former MD of the South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum (SABEF), industry association that created entrepreneurship ecosystems in South African townships, rural and peri-urban areas Matsi as a contributor to entrepreneurship and innovation policy in South Africa. • Led advocacy teams, that have impacted the South African policy landscape by driving traction in the Sec 12J tax incentive for Venture Capital Companies (VCC) and also by getting the South African government to lift Intellectual Property (IP) exchange control and Loop structure hurdles • Appointed by the South African Minister of Science and Technology to be part of a review panel for the Intellectual Property (IP) Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act • A member of the South Africa Bureau of Standards (SABS), innovation management committee Matsi as a Board Member, Trustee and Board Advisor • Board member of the Free State Land Use Advisory Board • Board of Advisor on the Agrie-Vie Private Equity Fund • Trustee on the MMI Masikhululise ESD Trust • Non-Executive Director of The Innovation Hub Management Company SOC-LTD, a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) • Trustee of Orange Corners, an incubation initiative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. • Founding steering committee member of the National Mentorship Movement • Subcommittee member of the South African Venture Capital/ Private Equity Association (SAVCA) • A member of the Institute of Directors SA (IoDSA) • Former Advisor on the Barclays Africa Shared Growth Advisory Council   Matsi as a global thought leader on entrepreneurship • Written and have been featured in numerous local and international publications, including Forbes Africa, Small Business Connect, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Boston Review, Mail & Guardian, Succeed Magazine, Destiny Magazine, The New Age newspaper, Business Day and City Press. • Matsi is a weekly featured guest on Radio 2000 and SAfm as a business mentor Matsi’s global awards, recognition and participation in the entrepreneurship development space • Keynote Speaker at the Oxford Business Forum Africa 2018, hosted by the Oxford Saïd Business School in the United Kingdom • A founding curator of the World Economic Forum, global shapers community • In 2016 was selected by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as one of the Top 50 Global Shapers to attend the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland and represented the country • Acknowledged by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting of New Champions, in Tianjin China by Professor Klaus Schwab (founder of the WEF) for her contribution to entrepreneurship development in South • Named Top 30 African leaders in technology, business, art, science, politics, design and media by Quartz Africa. • Named one of the Top 100 Young Independent Disruptors by Independent Day Media • A mentor on the World Bank / VC4Africa XL Africa program • Participated in the World Bank Inaugural Innovation Summit in Singapore (2017) • Member of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) • Participated at the G20 Youth Entrepreneurship Alliance in Berlin Germany 2017 • Awarded the Coca –Cola Young Achiever of the year award at the Women In Leadership – Africa Summit 2013, alongside Nigerian female billionaire Folarunsho Alakija

Andrea is Co-Managing Partner of a Cape Town based Venture Capital firm, Knife Capital. Having grown up in Germany, she has a Masters Degree with focus on Marketing and Management of Technology and Innovation from the Technical University in Aachen, Germany and a MBA from Henley Management College in the UK. After years in industry, she has spend the last 14 years as an investor, working with technology companies in South Africa, assisting them to scale internationally. As an ecosystem activist, she believes that technology entrepreneurs have a significant influence on the future of Africa, impacting the generation of Intellectual Property, skills transfer, employment creation, creating role models and building significant sustainable businesses. Andrea believes that entrepreneurs need access to knowledge - subject matter expertise and business knowledge -, networks - advisors, customers, skills - and funding and is passionate about providing all of the above.

Tanya van Lill joined the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA) in March 2017 as CEO, after a rewarding 10-year career at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). There, she fulfilled the roles of Director of Academic Programmes, and learning and development specialist, focusing on management and leadership development across a wide range of sectors. During her tenure, she served on the board of the Executive MBA Council (EMBAC), an international academic association that represents the executive MBA industry. She holds a BCom Informatics and Honours in Business Management degree from UNISA as well as a post-graduate diploma and MBA from GIBS. Her thesis was dedicated to the methodology behind developing a global mindset. As a strategic and creative thinker, Tanya’s interests lie in both human and organisational development, with the aim of shaping the ongoing growth and success of Southern Africa’s private equity and venture capital sector. Tanya is also a South African PowerLifter as well as a motorbike and fitness enthusiast.

Aaron is an early stage investor, entrepreneur, and strategic advisor to both startups as they scale and corporates as they transform to gain agility for disruptive innovation. Over the last 5 years he has specifically focussed on innovation in Africa, working with partners across diverse industries, from financial services to health to mobile to agriculture.

She is CEO of Firebird Fund Managers, a distressed asset fund and gender lens investor. Cathy has been a board member of SAVCA since September 2016 where she serves on the SAVCA Asset Class Promotion sub-committee.  She is a board and IC member of various investment structures, including Spear Capital, a Scandinavian-backed fund which provides growth capital to SME on the African continent.   Cathy has over 20 years of experience in investment banking, corporate finance and private equity where has been involved in the full range of deal making activities from origination to exit. Cathy has worked for blue-chip corporates such as Investec, EY and Deloitte as well as smaller boutique firms such as Bridge Capital.   Cathy is KI for FSB registration purposes for Firebird, Spear and impact funders, Edge Growth. She was voted 5th in the 10 Power Women Shaping Africa’s Private Equity Market by AfkInsider.com in 2015. She is passionate about the development of women in the Private Equity and SME space.

Polo Leteka is a highly accomplished and experienced entrepreneur and private equity investor. She is the Executive Director and Founder of IDF Capital - a South African based entrepreneurial financier and advisory firm. Through IDF Capital, Polo has contributed towards channeling investments into women-owned SMEs across South Africa. In 2015, she co-founded Alitheia IDF Managers to continue investing in high growth businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa that are women owned and led. She was also part of South Africa’s version of the Dragons Den show and is co-Author of a book called “.....and for all these reasons, I’M IN.....”, which seeks to assist entrepreneurs to become investor ready.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is an entrepreneur in the public interest. He is passionate about partnering with missionary talent and capital to build an African future. He spent the last few years as the CEO of Flutterwave, a business building payments technology and infrastructure to connect Africa to the global economy. Over those years, he led the company to become one of the fastest growing payments technology businesses of all-time processing over $2 billion across over 50 million transaction with annual revenues of millions of dollars a year. It also attracted significant investment from experienced players in the global payments arena such as Y Combinator (investors in Stripe), Greycroft (investors in Braintree), Greenvisor Capital (Led by the Former CEO of Visa), Mastercard amongst others. Prior to helping to co-found and lead Flutterwave, Iyinoluwa co-founded Andela - Africa's largest engineering organization with over 1000 software engineers which has received investment from Mark Zuckerberg and Google Ventures amongst others. Iyinoluwa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Legal Studies from the University of Waterloo; and sits on the board of several institutions including Paris’ Share Africa Project, Rainbow Educational Services Limited and Filmo Realty. He served as the Deputy Director General for Madam Oby Ezekwesili’s 2019 Presidential Campaign, he is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree and a member of Nigeria's Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council.

Antoine Paillusseau is the CEO and Co-founder of FinChatBot, a technology solution that enables financial clients to connect with and add immediate value to its customers. He is a seasoned entrepreneur with experience in Business Strategy, Sales Management and Venture building across both Africa and Europe. Whilst he is passionate about creating innovative solutions and is constantly conceptualising new ways to improve on his suite of products, he is also committed to enabling entrepreneurial talent in Africa. He does this by sharing his lessons and knowledge as a businessman and fosters growth through an Incubator called Far Ventures which he co-founded with his business partner Romain Diaz in 2016. Prior to starting both Far Ventures and FinChatBot, he also Co-founded Time One South Africa; an award-winning online marketing agency based in Cape Town. Antoine holds a Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurship from EDC Paris, France. He believes in working hard, being passionate about what you do for a living - and having fun doing it!

Gwen Ngwenya is a public policy expert. She is the founder and CEO of Techpol, a tech focused policy and public affairs advisory. Techpol works with early stage, as well as established companies, in developing effective strategies to engage with regulators and public stakeholders on policy related to emerging tech. Previously she was Chief Operating Officer at a leading South African think tank before taking up the role as Head of Policy and MP in the national legislature. Before moving back to South Africa she lived in France, the UK, and India where she worked as an economist covering the pharmaceutical and airline industries. Her interest in tech began when she was recruited by a global fintech company. She has degrees from the University of Cape Town (BSocSc) and Université Paris XII (International Economics), where she wrote her thesis on Optimal Cartel Policy in India.

Eitan Stern is a commercial and entertainment attorney, and a director at Legalese, a creative legal agency which has redesigned legal services to suit creative and start-up businesses by making them accessible, affordable and understandable. He has years of experience as both a tech entrepreneur, and a practicing attorney. As a problem solver and innovator, Eitan has great insight as to what businesses need. He’s worked with sectors across the board, from creative, advertising and media, to educational, non-profit and technology and always looking for opportunities to expand Legalese's portfolio. 

Danai Musandu is an investment professional, at Goodwell Investments a pioneering investment firm focused on financial inclusion, fintech and inclusive growth in sectors providing basic goods and services and income generation opportunities to the underserved.  Since 2006 Goodwell has raised 5 funds with over $ 100 mln in capital. Goodwell has invested in financial services and technology companies in India and Africa, ranging from classical microfinance to mobile payments, rural banking, affordable housing finance to merchant payment networks and public transport technology. Goodwell’s 25 portfolio companies have reached over 12 million households with more than USD 1.5 billion in financial products and services and employ more than 30,000 employees. African portfolio companies include Paga (Nigeria), MFS Africa (pan-African) Nomanini (South Africa), WhereIsMyTransport (pan-African) and Musoni Systems (pan-African). The firm is realizing top quartile investment returns and making a significant impact, demonstrating that it is possible to be commercially successful while having an impact at the same time. Goodwell manages its funds jointly with local network member firms that have become established names in the impact investment sector - in India (Aavishkaar), Nigeria (Alitheia), Kenya (Goodwell Kenya) and South Africa (Goodwell South Africa).  Goodwell has a unique mix of investors: pioneering impact investors, foundations and family offices, as well as development finance institutions, funds-of-funds, banks, pension funds and other institutional investors.

Courtnery Bentley, a Forbes 30 Under 30 alumni, is experienced in merging critical business challenges with appropriate disruptive technologies. Courtney started ZA Support in 2009 and Vizibiliti Insight Africa in 2016. ZA Support is one of the most established Apple support companies in Johannesburg with an active client base consisting of over 5000 corporate, parastatal, public and private customers. The business is self-funded and has a proven track record of providing world-class Apple solutions to the market. Between 2012 and 2015 Courtney gained industry experience in multiple verticals including: Security (AIT – assets in transit), E-education and Neuroscience backed employee engagement. Courtney co-founded Vizibiliti Insight in 2016 which had a focus of applying Artificial Intelligence to alternative credit scoring for the financial services industry. Vizibiliti has the potential to have a significant social impact to change the lives of over 30 million South African consumers who have been previously marginalised as legacy credit scoring techniques cannot assess them effectively.

Pedro is the one who analyses, identifies, defines and monitors the performance of APPY. With an extensive experience in the areas of technology and telecommunications, the current CEO is now dedicated to delivering new value to the different business sectors and customers through operational excellence and a focus on innovation, for the development of APPY's digital platforms. He worked as Solution Manager at Huawei Technologies, currently the largest provider of telecommunications solutions in the world. With a telecommunications area, a state linked to the development of ICT in Angola. He worked as an Engineering Supervisor at Net One and as a Telecommunications Project Manager at TOTAL E & P Angola.

Glenn is the co-founder and CEO of Sea Monster Entertainment, one of Africa’s pre- eminent animation, gaming and augmented reality companies. He has a Business Science degree the University of Cape Town and has been an entrepreneur, hired gun and consultant with growing, knowledge intensive businesses around the world for over 25 years. Prior to Sea Monster, Glenn was the General Manager of Clockwork Zoo, one of the largest animation and live TV production companies in the country. Before that he was the General Manager at Moonlighting Film Services, which is South Africa’s leading film and commercials company. He has held a number of senior marketing director positions and has provided management consulting services to many growing private sector businesses. Glenn provided consulting, advisory and facilitation services to leading public sector agencies, such as the Cape Film Commission, the Department of Trade & Industry and IDC amongst other government bodies. His area of expertise is in the film, media and the creative industries. Glenn is a sought-after speaker and panellist and has presented at a many leading marketing and innovation events, from Tedx to The Digital Edge, to The Learning Landscape conference amongst others. He is regularly quoted in the media and his articles have been published in a number of key industry forums locally and internationally. Glenn is the co-founder of Relate, a social trust that provides employment opportunities and connects organisations to good causes by making branded bracelets. Relate has generated over R55m in donations and enterprise development funding over the last 5 years alone.

Professor Marwala is an accomplished scholar with multi-disciplinary research interests that include the theory and application of artificial intelligence to engineering, computer science, finance, social science and medicine. He has an extensive track record in human capacity development and has published 15 books in artificial intelligence. Professor Marwala is the Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg and prior to this he was the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation and Executive Dean of Engineering and the Built Environment both at the University of Johannesburg. He was recently appointed as Deputy Chair of the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Mike Mompi is CEO of Enza Capital, a private investment fund focused on early-stage African technology companies solving large and meaningful problems. He was previously an Investor at the Global Innovation Fund where he focused on high-impact commercial investments across sub-Saharan Africa, and he was the Investment Advisor to the DFID and USAID-funded SPRING accelerator in East Africa. Prior to that Mike was Director of Impact Investment at ClearlySo, which he helped build into Europe’s leading Impact Investment Bank raising over $250m. Mike worked with management teams, private investors, and institutional investors to structure and secure values-aligned investment for businesses that have a positive impact on society and the environment. Mike is on the Board of the Accra Angels Network in Ghana, and he is a Trustee at the Treebeard Trust in the UK, which is a pioneering social investor that supports transformational initiatives creating a fairer society. He holds degrees in Economics and Communications from the University of California, Davis.

Yvonne Maitin is Founder and CEO at One Africa Capital, a majority black female owned and managed private equity investment management firm focused on seed, early-stage and growth capital investments in scalable Technology based businesses in South Africa. Yvonne has broad experience gained over 18+ years in financial services across private equity investment management, private debt, investment banking, stockbroking and derivatives structuring. She began her private equity career at Actis Private Equity in 2007 where she was a member of the Pan-African investment team. Her role included deal origination, financial modelling, investment appraisals and portfolio management & monitoring serving on investee company boards. She later joined the Liberty group where she was a Divisional Director at Libfin involved in on-balance sheet private equity, senior debt & credit investments and distribution. She also served as a private equity specialist fundraiser at STANLIB, the Asset Management business within the Liberty group. In 2016, she became a partner at Bopa Moruo, a mid-market PE fund manager where she was a member of the investment team and led fundraising & investor relations initiatives. She also engaged in operational PE fund set-up activities including legal, regulatory and administration considerations. Prior to the above, Yvonne was a derivatives trader and structurer at Standard Bank CIB (Global markets) where she was responsible for Asset & Liability Management advisory across Africa. Amoung other achievements, she led, structured and executed the first €/UGX long-dated cross-currency basis swap in Uganda which was recognized as the ‘Deal of the Year 2005’ for its innovation and success. Yvonne has a solid foundation formed in Macro-Economic research, analysis and econometric modelling while serving as an Economic analyst at Credit Suisse. She has strong leadership and governance experience gained from serving on several boards. She currently serves on various boards including the SA Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA) Yvonne holds a MBA (Finance) from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and a B. Com (Hons) degree in Financial Economics & Econometrics from Rhodes University. She is a registered Key Individual for CAT I & II fund management licences at the FSCA (previously FSB).

Abe Cambridge is a serial energy entrepreneur with an academic background in climate science and solar energy. He was recently named one of ESI Africa's "African Energy Elites" and the company he founded, Sun Exchange, was named one of the Top 10 Most Innovative companies in Africa by Fast Company for its disruptive approach to solar finance. Abe is a renowned thought leader in solar and blockchain, delivers keynote speeches around the world, and is frequently quoted in the media.

Mercy Zulu-Hume is an Investment Associate and ESG Officer at Goodwell Investments, a pioneering investment firm focused on financial inclusion, FinTech and inclusive growth in sectors providing basic goods, services and income generating opportunities to the underserved. She is particularly interested in innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa, and as a result joined the Goodwell team to work closely with entrepreneurs by providing capital and hands-on support in navigating early stage growth pains. In addition, Mercy is a member of the Goodwell research team investigating the future of inclusive digital economy in Africa. This research covers over 2000 start-ups and scale-ups on the continent, and provides insight into entrepreneurial, technology and sector trends. Mercy has previously been involved in various projects at the World Bank and UNECA country offices in Zambia. She holds a BA in Economics and an MCom specializing in Economic Development from the University of Cape Town (South Africa).

Anton is an entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist having been involved in venture capital since 2009 and officially becoming a 4Di partner on the launch of the 4Di Capital Fund I in 2011. In addition to overlooking several portfolio investments, Anton is responsible for the general management and oversight of the funds’ operations. Prior to 2009 Anton, along with his father Erik van Vlaanderen launched and successfully owner managed a fresh fruit export marketing  business for seven years. During this period, he was also involved in all angel investment activities pursued by 4Di Group, a private family office investment vehicle. His primary focus today are his venture capital activities while also playing an advisory role for ESET Southern Africa, a 4Di Group company and has made a number of angel investments.

Originally from a small city in India called Madras now Chennai, Ashwin Ravichandran is an Interactive Designer/Developer, specializing in UI/UX and product growth. After doing a Bachelors in Computer Science, Ashwin joined the bandwagon of high innovation by joining Honeywell. Two months later, Ashwin switched to startups and has never looked back. In 2014, Ashwin travelled the world consulting for startups, and in 2015, he joined MEST Africa in Accra, Ghana, as a tech fellow helping to train 60 entrepreneurs a year on how to build sustainable tech companies. He is now the Managing Director of MEST Africa based in Ghana, and manages the overall startup portfolio across Africa. Ashwin's role is to help the companies grow and expand the incubator, and focuses on company growth and success in terms of business development, product management and raising further rounds of funding.

Louw Barnardt CA(SA) is the co-founder and managing director of Outsourced CFO, a multi award-winning financial consultancy that specialises in CFO and cloud accounting services for scaling tech and innovation companies. A voice for entrepreneurship and finance, Louw drives multiple conversations around the use of technology, raising of capital and scaling up of business ventures across multiple platforms. The current Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year, a top 35 under 35 Chartered Accountant and a young business leader in South Africa, Louw speaks, writes, records and promotes entrepreneurship as a catalyst for social change while championing one of the most exciting scale-up companies in the finance industry today.