Zach is the Managing Partner at Launch Africa Ventures – Africa’s most prominent and active early-stage VC Fund with a portfolio of 130+ tech ventures across 20+ countries. He is also the Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Startupbootcamp AfriTech – the leading multi-corporate backed venture accelerator program in Africa.

Zach is a prominent Angel investor in 50+ leading tech startups in Africa including Flutterwave, KudaBank, Mono, Marketforce and several others. He was featured on the cover of Fast Company Africa (May 2018), Destiny Man (Nov 2019) and on several occasions on CNBC Africa. In January 2020, he was recognized as one of the Top 4 Most Influential Persons in Technology in Africa by Les Echos (the French equivalent of the Financial Times).

Zach was formerly the head of Africa Investments for U-Start – the largest network of private Multi-Family offices in Europe. Prior to moving to South Africa, he was an investment banker on Wall Street covering mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance strategy and risk management at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital, New York.

Zach has a Master’s degree in Finance & Management from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

Outside of his professional life, Zach is an acoustic guitarist, pianist and vocalist with cover albums ‘Give A Little’ (2010) and ‘Humans with Hearts’ (2018) on iTunes and Spotify. He is an avid lover of theater and the performing arts, likes hiking and a good game of tennis and squash. He enjoys creative writing and is currently busy finishing a work of non-fiction.

Fritz Demopoulos has been an entrepreneur and investor within the media and internet industries for over 10 years. He co-founded Qunar.com, China’s largest travel internet company; and Shawei.com, China’s largest sports internet company. Fritz also had senior positions at Netease and The News Corporation.

Stephan Ekbergh married father of 4, lives in Cape Town. Ex professional DJ for 10 years. Entrepreneur in Travel. Started the E-commerce revolution in Scandinavia 1999. Is now doing the same in Africa. Passion for releasing gifts and entrepreneurship with people. Writes and speaks about business, life and taking risks. Investor and active boardmember, also works with and finances non profits organization Thembalitscha foundation.

Ross is CEO & Co-Founder at Wego, which is online travel marketplace that provides top ranked mobile apps and websites for users living in the APAC and MENA regions. Wego harnesses powerful technology that simplifies the process of searching, comparing and booking flights and hotels across hundreds of airlines, hotels and online travel agency websites. Wego is has dual-HQs in Singpaore and Dubai and is backed by top-tier investors including Tiger Global, Crescent Group, Square Peg Capital and the MBC Group.

Ross is a veteran of the Asian internet industry having established Yahoo!s Southeast Asian operations in Singapore back in 1998 and leading product development efforts across the region for 6+ years. He is also Singapore Co-Chair of H2, the premier global leadership network for the digital industry. Ross has been an active angel investor in the technology sector for a decade and enjoys working with other passionate entrepreneurs. He has worked in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Kuala Lumpur and is now splits his time between Singapore and Dubai. He travels frequently for business but not nearly enough for leisure.

Shiela Yabo is a Strategist, Venture Builder & and ecosystem dot-connector with an interest in how human behavioral science impacts the world of business. With over 12 years experience in higher education; the innovation & entrepreneurship sector; and technology; her passion is to build a nurturing ecosystem for high-impact businesses. Shiela has a BSoc Sci majoring in Social Anthropology & Gender Studies, completed the Associate in Management Programme, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice, specializing in Business Administration, both awarded with distinction, from the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town.

Experienced in entrepreneurship on the continent of Africa, she has a wealth of praxis knowledge in new venture launch, business acceleration, systems thinking, and Impact Investing. She has designed and executed multiple entrepreneurship & innovation support programs and impacted entrepreneurs across Africa through her previous role at the University of Cape Town. She is currently Head of Ecosystem Development at ayoba. Ayoba is an all-in-one free app offering free instant messaging, voice & video calling, content, and micro-apps. MicroApps are a relatively new mobile application format allowing web apps to live within another mobile-native app -, allowing small businesses to live within the ayoba ecosystem and take advantage of that placement to gain increased traffic, exposure, and access to zero-rated data, via MTN.

Natalie is the Managing Partner of Norrsken22, responsible for the overall management of the Fund, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Natalie brings a wealth of private equity and growth investing experience to Norrsken22, having spent 18 years at Actis – one of the leading private equity firms focused on the Emerging Markets.

At Actis, Natalie was Global Head of Private Equity, responsible for the day-to-day management of the global PE business, spanning 8 funds across Africa, Latin America, India, China and SE Asia, with circa USD $2.5 billion in assets under management. Natalie was also part of the team that assessed and onboarded the Abraaj Africa, Middle East and South East Asia PE funds and team ($2.5bn portfolio). She is an experienced board member having held board seats on multiple companies across Africa and Europe and has been instrumental in numerous restructurings and successful exits. Natalie instilled and operated under world-class governance and ESG standards at Actis and brings this depth of knowledge with her to Norrsken22.

Natalie holds a BCom from the University of Witwatersrand, an MBA (Cum Laude) from Wits Business School and is a CFA Charterholder.

Zach is the Managing Partner at Launch Africa Ventures – Africa’s most prominent and active early-stage VC Fund with a portfolio of 130+ tech ventures across 20+ countries. He is also the Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Startupbootcamp AfriTech – the leading multi-corporate backed venture accelerator program in Africa.

Zach is a prominent Angel investor in 50+ leading tech startups in Africa including Flutterwave, KudaBank, Mono, Marketforce and several others. He was featured on the cover of Fast Company Africa (May 2018), Destiny Man (Nov 2019) and on several occasions on CNBC Africa. In January 2020, he was recognized as one of the Top 4 Most Influential Persons in Technology in Africa by Les Echos (the French equivalent of the Financial Times).

Zach was formerly the head of Africa Investments for U-Start – the largest network of private Multi-Family offices in Europe. Prior to moving to South Africa, he was an investment banker on Wall Street covering mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance strategy and risk management at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital, New York.

Zach has a Master’s degree in Finance & Management from Stanford University and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

Outside of his professional life, Zach is an acoustic guitarist, pianist and vocalist with cover albums ‘Give A Little’ (2010) and ‘Humans with Hearts’ (2018) on iTunes and Spotify. He is an avid lover of theater and the performing arts, likes hiking and a good game of tennis and squash. He enjoys creative writing and is currently busy finishing a work of non-fiction.

A senior travel industry executive with experience in developing and leading global technology platforms, Mike’s ambition for Meili is to become the market leading ancillary revenue platform. As the former CEO of CarTrawler, Mike leveraged his deep understanding of the mobility industry to drive a decade of sustained growth, secure substantial private equity investments, and execute several acquisitions. Mike’s commercial expertise and track record of success perfectly position him to propel Meili towards its ambitious growth targets, capitalising on the company’s existing momentum.

Timothy O’Neil-Dunne is a principal at 777 Partners, a private equity investment firm based in Miami with deep experience in aviation. He is a frequent speaker and commentator on aviation, travel distribution, technology, startups and innovation at events around the globe. Timothy is also the head of product at Air Black Box, a global travel technology company founded to help airlines address the complexities of cross-selling travel product inventory. Air Black Box is headquartered in Manchester, UK with offices in the USA and Asia. Most recently, Air Black Box was recognized as a 2019 CIO 100 Award Winner.

Before founding Air Black Box, Timothy was a founding management team member with Expedia, heading its international and ground transportation portfolios. He also spent time with Worldspan as their international head of technology, where he managed technology services from infrastructure to product.

A creative problem solver and successful entrepreneur, most notably in the travel technology space, Theresa Emerick is the Managing Director of NightsBridge, the “bridge” between independent hospitality suppliers and the marketing channels selling their inventory. Founded in 2004 by Theresa and her husband Neil, NightsBridge focusses on developing simple technology that increases online distribution and marketing opportunities for B&B, guest house and boutique hotel clients. Today a recognised and well-respected thought leader in the country’s tourism industry, Theresa pours her energy into strategic partnership development and championing the growth of South Africa’s tourism. Theresa holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pretoria in Political Science and International Relations.

Alessandro is passionate about Travel Industry, with 14 years of experience across different area, such as R&D, Project Management, IT Account Management, Commercial Account Management.

He currently holds the position of VP Sales, Online, Metasearch and Digital Players in Amadeus.

Formerly twice World Rowing Champion he’s then focused his drive, energy and commitment into supporting major Online Travel Agencies, Metasearch and Digital Players into differentiating and succeeding into the Online Travel ecosystem.

Finally, he has had the privilege to lead a team of experienced Account and Sales Managers sharing my passion and values

Chee Chong is passionate about the tourism industry, so much so that his 15-year career has been centered around it. He has founded not one, but two start-ups to better meet the needs of the buoyant travel/tourism industry.

He is currently Chief Executive Officer and visionary of GlobalTix, an e-ticketing travel marketplace. Chee Chong was also one of the co-founders of Adventure Glamping, which has pioneered and built the first-ever “glamping” (glamorous camping) resort called Canopi, located in Bintan.

He began his travel industry career with SilkAir, the regional carrier owned by Singapore Airlines and subsequently was seconded to Singapore Airlines.

During his seven-year career with the two carriers, he handled various job functions, including postings to Thailand, Indonesia, and Central Japan which gave him invaluable exposure in the airline industry. In Central Japan, he started many initiatives, including several that continue to today, and the team was recognized with a CEO’s Merit Award for operational excellence.

Chee Chong next joined Sentosa Development Corporation as a member of the management team. He started as the Leisure Operation, Director where he was responsible for ongoing daily operations, from beach operation, attractions to ticketing and subsequently became the General Manager of Mount Faber Leisure Group.

Chee Chong holds a Bachelor of Engineering (2nd Upper) degree from the National University of Singapore.

With a passion and dedication to leveraging technology for positive social change, Wilmé has for the past 7 years led the design,implementation and scaling of the Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy at Airbnb – a skills development program tailored primarily for women and youth in underrepresented communities who have not yet benefited economically from tourism.

With a degree in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Sociology (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) and a Masters in Public Health (UCT), Wilmé has always had an interest in social and behavioral sciences – critical components of any holistic approach to community engagement and program design in social settings. Before joining Airbnb, she helped build programs for young people from marginalized communities and children & families navigating the complexities of the healthcare system during life threatening illnesses.

Shola Akinlade is CEO and co-founder of Paystack, a technology company powering payments and growth for businesses in Africa.

Over 200,000 businesses of all sizes use Paystack’s robust suite of payments APIs to collect and transfer online and offline payments securely. Paystack is now live in Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Cote d’Ivore, and soon Egypt accelerating growth for Africa’s most ambitious companies and helping them launch new business models, and deepen their customer relationships.

Paystack was the first Nigerian company to be accepted into Silicon Valley-based accelerator, Y Combinator. The company was acquired by Stripe in 2020 but continues to scale independently across the Continent.

Prior to Paystack, Shola co-founded Precurio, an open-source collaboration software for businesses in emerging markets which was downloaded over 150,000 times and made available in 6 languages. Shola holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Babcock University.

Chee Chong is passionate about the tourism industry, so much so that his 15-year career has been centered around it. He has founded not one, but two start-ups to better meet the needs of the buoyant travel/tourism industry.

He is currently Chief Executive Officer and visionary of GlobalTix, an e-ticketing travel marketplace. Chee Chong was also one of the co-founders of Adventure Glamping, which has pioneered and built the first-ever “glamping” (glamorous camping) resort called Canopi, located in Bintan.

He began his travel industry career with SilkAir, the regional carrier owned by Singapore Airlines and subsequently was seconded to Singapore Airlines.

During his seven-year career with the two carriers, he handled various job functions, including postings to Thailand, Indonesia, and Central Japan which gave him invaluable exposure in the airline industry. In Central Japan, he started many initiatives, including several that continue to today, and the team was recognized with a CEO’s Merit Award for operational excellence.

Chee Chong next joined Sentosa Development Corporation as a member of the management team. He started as the Leisure Operation, Director where he was responsible for ongoing daily operations, from beach operation, attractions to ticketing and subsequently became the General Manager of Mount Faber Leisure Group.

Chee Chong holds a Bachelor of Engineering (2nd Upper) degree from the National University of Singapore.

Dorian is an experienced Co-Founder and business operator, starting his first business while in high school, breeding and selling birds.

Qualifying from the then Wits Technicon in 1990 with a National Diploma in Tourism, he has a rich history of working in the tourism, hospitality and services industry and loves being at the coalface of business, engaging with his clients.

An entrepreneur at heart, having created a number of businesses, his main focus as co-founder and CEO was Professional Passenger Services, a ground transport operator in Johannesburg that he built up with his partner Leona Toussaint over 23 years to December 2019 when he exited the business.
Having an intimate understanding of the ground transport industry Dorian and Leona developed Tousca, an innovative ground transport aggregator for travel bookers to source, compare and book African ground transport operators and a marketing platform for African transport operators to gain access to distribution channels in previously inaccessible markets.

Dorian’s love is people and the creativity associated with solving problems and building solutions that develop meaningful partnerships, enabling and growing SMEs in tourism.

James Newman is a Chartered Accountant who has worked in the travel and tourism industry for the last six years. James thrives in collaborative environments, relishing the opportunity to work alongside skilled professionals to solve complex problems and drive initiatives towards a brighter future. Before joining Weeva he successfully led and expanded a local hotel group, demonstrating his deep passion for the travel industry and its potential for growth through collaborative efforts.

Prior to his involvement in tourism, James worked in the financial sector, and held positions at Deloitte in South Africa and San Francisco, amassing five years of invaluable experience in management consulting.

Dr Andrea Ferry is a sustainability consultant who works with clients to design and embed
sustainability programmes and practices in their daily operations. She is particularly
experienced in advising hospitality businesses on their sustainability measures, having
worked with the Singita brand for over ten years. She has also worked with a range of
clients in banking, tech and retail in her capacity as a Senior Consultant with corporate
responsibility consultancy Trialogue. Prior to becoming a sustainability consultant, Andrea
practised as a Chartered Accountant for 14 years and has strong business process, data
management and reporting skills.

Andrea graduated with a PhD in Business Administration from The University of Cape
Town’s Graduate School of Business in 2018, where her doctoral thesis focused on
employee behaviour change for sustainability. She is also a SETA-accredited Carbon
Footprint Analyst. Andrea joined Weeva as the sustainability standard bearer in 2021 and is
committed to sharing her expertise and knowledge to the industry via a scaled solution to
create long-term impact.