Panel
Craig Meyer
Craig Meyer
Craig Meyer currently serves as the Director of Innovation and Special Projects at the Department of Communication and Digital Technologies. With over 30 years of experience and a diverse educational background including an Honours degree in International Relations, an Honours degree in Visual Communication from the AAA School of Advertising, and a Management diploma from the Cape University of Technology, Craig is a seasoned professional at the forefront of technological innovation.
Currently pursuing a Master's degree in Interdisciplinary Digital Knowledge Economic Studies at the WITS Link Centre, Craig's passion for continuous learning and exploration has led him into spheres as diverse as cryptocurrency, blockchain and the Metaverse, where he has been at the forefront as a member of the International Telecommunications Technical Focus Group on the Metaverse.
Notable among Craig's achievements is his role as the brainchild behind the groundbreaking Digitech ICT SMME program, which garnered global recognition with a prestigious award at the 2023 G20 Conference in India. The program has since been nominated for the esteemed 2024 WSIS Award for e-Business, further solidifying Craig's reputation as a trailblazer in the field ICT SMME development.
Simbisai Chizhande
Simbisai Chizhande
Simbisai Chizhande serves as the Chief Operations Officer and leads Investor Relations at IDF Capital. She is responsible for strategy development and execution, ensuring optimal organizational performance. Simbisai plays a key role in capital raising, having successfully closed deals with ESD Funds and supported fundraising efforts with institutional investors. She oversees the monitoring of funds’ KPIs, investor reporting, and manages all stakeholder relations and corporate affairs.
A versatile professional, Simbisai was a key member of the team that led value creation in one of IDF Capital’s corporate VC fund’s portfolio. She has a keen interest in ESG and impact investing principles, particularly Gender Lens Investing. Over her 12-year tenure at IDF Capital, Simbisai has been instrumental in establishing the company as a dominant player in venture capital and private equity investing across South Africa and the African continent. IDF Capital, boasts R2.5 billion in assets under management, has invested in over 317 SME businesses across debt, venture capital, and early-stage private equity, supported 72,000 jobs, deployed more than R1.2 billion, and achieved a 62% female portfolio.
Simbisai holds an MPhil in Development Finance from Stellenbosch Business School and a Master’s in Business Leadership (MBL) from Unisa Graduate School of Business Leadership.
Janice Johnston
Janice Johnston
Janice has a deep and diverse investment background, spanning over 20 years with highly regarded financial institutions in South Africa and the UK. She has significant debt, venture capital and private equity investment experience across multiple sectors and business stages and is a CFA Charterholder. Janice is committed to strategic leadership of impact investments into innovative, growth businesses in key sectors with the potential for significant environmental/social impact and financial return through collaboration, diversity, and inclusion.
Janice spent 10 years with Prudential Capital plc (part of M&G) in London as a senior member of its Principal Finance team prior to joining Edge Growth, a leading SA impact investor and accelerator for SMEs. She ended up as CE of its Growth Equity portfolio which invests in innovative, high growth companies with the potential for significant financial return and social impact. Thereafter, Janice joined the Identity Partners Group, a majority black women led investment group.
Having worked in the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team which led the negotiation of South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP), Janice was a Financing Advisor tasked with facilitating and co-ordinating the implementation of the JET IP. She is involved in several mentorship initiatives and is the chair of 100 Women in Finance in South Africa. Janice has re-joined Edge Growth Ventures as CEO of the fund management business from July 2023.
Nick Allen
Nick Allen
Nick Allen is a civil engineer with an MBA, and additional education in IP management, Venture Capital, Private Equity, and corporate Governance. Nick is drawn to helping inventors and innovators turn their ideas and concepts into products and businesses that make people’s lives better and/or solve some of the world’s problems.
He has a passion for building businesses from first principles. He is a founder of Savant and has been commercialising technology businesses for 17 years, taking food tech, medical devices and renewable energy businesses from concept stage to the international market.
Tebogo Modiba
Craig Meyer
Tebogo Modiba is the Acting Director: Innovation Priorities and Instruments at the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation. He boasts 18 years’ experience in the development of innovation policy and implementation instruments including the Innovation Fund, the Technology Innovation Agency and the Innovation Bridge. Some of the areas of expertise includes government investments in the VC Ecosystem to drive commercialisation of publicly funded R&D and tech start-ups support.