Featuring: Scott McKenna, Hanneli Rupert, Matt de la Hey & Ashleigh Hinde

Young SA Entrepreneurs: Standing Out in a Global Market Place

The event will present a wonderful opportunity for young professionals to meet and network after hearing how South African entrepreneurs are making their mark in the global market place, and the UK in particular. Hear how these South African go-getters started out, got funding, scaled up, the challenges they have faced and, the successes they have enjoyed.

Speaker Biographies

Scott McKenna

Scott McKenna is the CEO and co-founder of Our Social Collective Limited - a brand incubator, e-commerce platform and creative agency based in London that empowers founders and influential individuals to break into the consumer retail market. Born in Johannesburg, Scott studied accounting and finance at the University of Cape Town and worked for Julius Baer in Zurich before moving into the London start-up scene in 2017.

Scott now advises businesses and individuals in a number of industries on how best to succeed in the ever-changing digital marketing landscape, while also helping them execute this through Our Social Collective's 360-degree branding and marketing agency.

Hanneli Rupert

Hanneli Rupert is the Founder and Creative Director of Okapi and Merchants on Long. African Luxury brand, Okapi was conceptualized in 2008 and the multiband shop Merchants on Long followed suit opening in 2010.
 
Prior to this, she trained at the University of the Arts London with a focus on painting. She was nominated as a Member of the Business of Fashion 500 in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and is an active YGL (Young Global Leader) at the World Economic Forum. She is a Trustee of the South African children's education charity IMIBALA which has a strong arts focus.
 
Hanneli is currently working on the ongoing renovation and renewal of the RUPERT Museum in Stellenbosch, South Africa set to reopen in May 2019.
 
Future plans include taking a more active involvement in HOMO FABER the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship of which she was recently appointed to the board.

Matt de la Hey

Matthew de la Hey is co-founder and CEO of recruitment media marketplace inploi - a platform that empowers companies to develop an employer brand, advertise job opportunities and efficiently connect and communicate with job applicants.

From the KZN midlands, Matt trained to be an accountant at Stellenbosch University, where he was a Mandela Rhodes Scholar. He then carried on to Oxford University on a Weidenfeld Scholarship, where he read an MSc in African studies (research changing agricultural behaviour in the ex-Transkei) and an MBA at the Said Business School.

Matt is a member and finance director of the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance, developing Africa's entrepreneurial potential and is an advisor to South African start-up TUSE.

Ashleigh Hinde

When Ashleigh Hinde launched Waldo in London in August 2017 as an ambitious, determined 28-year-old, she had one goal: to disrupt the eyewear industry by firmly putting the power back into the hands of the consumer. This meant challenging the conventional way that consumers bought and received contact lenses.

Today, Waldo sells premium daily contact lenses online but for less than the big brands. Waldo takes less margin on their contacts by cutting out the middleman, allowing them to pass savings onto their customers. The lenses are delivered to customers' doors within 48 hours, in compact, chic, cool packaging. Since launching in the UK in August 2017, Waldo lenses have been worn by over 100,000 customers and the company has expanded its service to reach the EU and USA.