SA tech entrepreneur Eldrid Jordaan appointed to University of Warwick advisory board - IOL
Prof. Eldrid Jordaan, South African technologist, entrepreneur and founder of GovChat, has joined the University of Warwick’s Start-up Programme Advisory Board, where he will mentor entrepreneurs and support the development of emerging technology ventures
South African technologist and entrepreneur Prof. Eldrid Jordaan has been appointed to the Advisory Board of the University of Warwick’s Start-up Programme in the United Kingdom.
Jordaan is the founder of GovChat, a civic technology platform that connected millions of citizens with public services.
He has also built and advised technology ventures in artificial intelligence, digital platforms and enterprise technology.
Jordaan will spend the next 12 months mentoring entrepreneurs in the programme, with a focus on helping them develop their business models, commercialise their ideas and prepare their ventures for growth.
As part of the appointment, he has been assigned three ventures participating in the programme: Aspire, CellSense Africa and LightYield.
Aspire is developing a technology platform to help organisations manage early-career programmes, including apprenticeships, graduate schemes and internships.
CellSense Africa is a business-to-business software venture using battery ageing analytics and predictive health data to support electric vehicle fleets in Kenya and other African markets.
The third venture, LightYield, is focused on agriculture. Its technology uses crop-zone light sensing and optimisation tools to help greenhouse growers manage light levels while reducing energy costs.
Jordaan said he was honoured to join the programme and contribute to the development of a new generation of entrepreneurs.
“My career has existed at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship, academia and social impact.
"I look forward to sharing those experiences with the founders, particularly around commercialisation, scaling technology businesses, strategic partnerships and navigating the realities of entrepreneurship, while also learning from an exciting new generation of innovators.”
