US VC firm Founder Collective among Hellopeter’s new owners

Yesterday, Ventureburn sister site Memeburn reported that Hellopeter founder Peter Cheales had stepped down from his position at the head of the company following a 100% acquisition by a group of entrepreneurs.

At the time, the parties involved couldn’t give any details around who that group of entrepreneurs was, but it was today revealed that the group buying out the customer service site includes a number of local and internationally-based entrepreneurs.

The new shareholders include Founder Collective, a venture capital firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and co-founded by David Frankel, one of South Africa’s tech leaders. As a firm, Founder Collective has made early investments in over 150 startups including consumer marketplaces like Coupang, South Korea’s largest ecommerce company and Uber, the revolutionary ridesharing service.

Taking up the leadership role at the site meanwhile will be Alon Rom, former shareholder and Director of Mr Delivery, the South African multiple restaurant delivery service, co-founder of Mr Delivery Express, the non food logistics arm of Mr Delivery, and shareholder of major ecommerce player Takealot.

“We are thrilled to be backing Alon who brings a proven track record of building businesses that put the customer ahead of everything else,” says Frankel. “This felt like a very good fit for Hellopeter.com. We have great respect for what has been achieved to date and know that Alon and team can take the company to a new level.”

According to Rom, the presence of Founder Collective in the new shareholder base will provide immense benefits to the Hellopeter ecosystem. “Not only do they have a proven track record in technology investments worldwide, but they offer the ability for Hellopeter.com to leverage off the Founder Collective community.”

Rom says that the Hellopeter.com platform and brand will live on under the new ownership structure and encourages South Africans to continue using the service as per usual.

As Memeburn reported yesterday, the current Hellopeter team will stay on under Rom’s leadership, although changes are expected.

First on the cards will be the launch of a more user friendly web and mobi site under what the new owners say will be “a refreshed corporate identity that will integrate all social media content, and will, in time, launch an application that will allow live interaction between consumers and corporates”.

“Being part of a consumer-centric organisation,” says Rom, “has made me realise the extreme importance of customer service in today’s fast paced world. Understanding customer needs is a fundamental pillar to success”.

“I am therefore excited to be involved in a business that can provide independent, valuable, and credible information to help corporates understand their customers and the needs of their organisation, and at the same time provide consumers a voice to far reaching audiences and connect them to great businesses”.