Vusi Thembekwayo (born 21 March 1985) is a famous South African entrepreneur, author, international speaker, podcaster, investor, businessman, and social media influencer from..
Vusi Thembekwayo (born 21 March 1985) is a famous South African entrepreneur, author, international speaker, podcaster, investor, businessman, and social media influencer from Benoni, East Rand, Gauteng Province, South Africa.
Notable Achievements:
At 25, Vusi ran a R400 million division at a renowned multinational and went on to be one of the youngest directors of a JSE listed company. He became famous as a dragon investor on the popular Dragon’s Den African edition in 2014.
Vusi is a General Partner of Watermark Afrika Capital, a Middle Eastern-based corporate finance and advisory firm that is trusted by UAE based clients to help them discover opportunities & invest in Sub-Saharan Africa. To date, Watermark has facilitated transactions in retail, manufacturing, commodities trading, fintech, banking & healthcare.
He is also the Chairman of Africa Growth Partners, an infrastructure-focused private equity firm with assets in water, energy, road and social infrastructure.
In addition, Vusi is the founder and CEO of MyGrowthFund Venture Partners, an award-winning community-centric venture capital firm and business accelerator.
As a serial global entrepreneur, venture capitalist and business mogul, Vusi is also an investor in Africa’s premier emerging technology accelerator Lion Cage as well as being the founder, CEO and shareholder of private equity firm VUKA Capital, which manages a series of private equity funds across various
categories.
An avid philanthropist, renowned international business speaker and best-selling author with speaking engagements across the globe, Vusi is arguably the most recognisable face and voice of venture capital across Africa.
His speaking achievements include the international hit talk “The Black Sheep” which he delivered to the Top 40 CEOs in Southern Africa, addressing the Australian Houses of Parliament and speaking at the British House of Commons.
Other Achivements:
Vusi is not only highly experienced within Africa but has also spread his wings across the globe. He is a shareholder and board member of Squared Financial, a Luxembourg-based Fintech that operates across traditional and alternative asset classes in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
He is a board member of the largest start-up accelerator in East Africa, The Innovation Village, which is funded by VISA and Mastercard. In addition, Vusi is a board member of Silicon Cape, Africa’s technology hub in Cape Town – an aggregator of all technology startups that operate in AI, machine learning, robotics and deep tech.
Education:
Thembekwayo completed a PDBA and a course on advanced valuation techniques with the Gordon Institute of Business Science and completed a Management Acceleration Programme (Cum Laude) with the Wits Business School.