Former CEO of Groupon SA Daniel Guasco has been appointed to lead the South African tech entrepreneur network, Silicon Cape.
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Together with Wayne Gosling, Guasco is most known for starting day-of-the-deal site Twangoo in 2010 which was soon after bought out by Groupon USA. The pair has since their departure from Groupon last year been active Angels and business advisors with investments in startups such as WumDrop and Ekaya.
Guasco is now taking over from Alexandra Fraser as chairperson of the initiative. CEO and founder of consulting firm Stone Tree, Fraser has led Silicon Cape through some major milestones, with the most recent being the post-R3-million investment from First National Bank (FNB).
Read more: Silicon Cape gets over R3m in funding from FNB, big changes to come
In a recent media statement, Guasco echoed these achievements:
I am honoured and privileged to be taking over from Alexandra who has led the organisation with some incredible and tangible results most notably the recent funding from FNB. Alexandra has set the bar for the new incumbents assuming positions. To the past committee members who dedicated much time and effort to selfishly drive South Africa’s largest tech entrepreneurial network, Thank you.
The new exco, headed up by Guasco, will be made up as follows:
- Lianne du Toit, Vice Chairperson & Event Relations
- Alexandra Fraser, Vice Chairperson & Stakeholder Relations
- Roger Norton, Finance & Governance
- Baratang Miya, Transformation
- Zimkhita Buwa, Women
- Sumarie Roodt & Elizabeth Gould, Students & Careers
- Roy Mathieu Borole & Guillaume de Smedt,
- Deidre Luzmore & Lauren Wallet, Marketing
- Vasili Sofiadellis, Investor Relations
- Nevo Haddas, Fundraising
- Matt Cohen, Developer Relations
- James Milne, Government Relations
Silicon Cape is also in the process of establishing an advisory committee of entrepreneurs, hiring a general manger and new coordinators.
“With these additional resources and energy, Silicon Cape hopes to further cement its position as the largest tech entrepreneurial network that is all inclusive and self-sustaining,” added Guasco.
