Michael Jordaan joins Clickatell as chairman alongside two other big names

Venture capitalist and former banker Michael Jordaan has been appointed to chair the board of SA-founded and Silicon Valley-based tech company Clickatell.

Jordaan, who is also behind soon-to-be launched digital bank Bank Zero, is one of three new appointments that Clickatell, which was founded in 2000 by Patrick Lawson and Pieter de Villiers, has made to its board as it enters its next phase of growth and global expansion.

Jordaan is also chairman of credit bureau CompuScan, director and shareholder of the JSE, chairman of Wines of South Africa and as director and shareholder of the listed data network Rain.

Clickatell claims its bulk SMS platforms have served billions of messages for over 15 000 customers, serving leading brands such as Visa, IBM, WhatsApp, Avaya and McKinsey.

Jordaan is joined by non-executive directors, former Takealot.com CTO Willem van Biljon and Ryno Blignaut, who serves as president at Restoration Hardware.

Michael Jordaan is one of three new appointments that Clickatell has made as the SA company enters its next growth phase

Commented Clickatell CEO and founder, Pieter de Villiers in a press release today: “Michael Jordaan has first-hand knowledge of the needs and challenges of mobile banking through his investment in the app-driven bank, Bank Zero”.

“We will benefit from the tremendous insight offered by Willem. His experience scaling up infrastructure and serviceability at global technology companies is vital for us at this stage of our business.

“Ryno understands the complexities of global regulations across multiple geographies and has experience managing a global business footprint.”

The company said it plans to build on a 30% year-on-year organic growth across its regions of global operations.

“Our board’s collective global experience along with our leadership team’s on-the-ground emerging market success gives us an edge enjoyed by very few companies,” De Villiers added.

Featured image: Former banker and investor Michael Jordaan (Supplied)