South Africa has the potential to play an expanding role in the global technology sector.
This is according to Dave Blakey, CEO of local technology success story, Snapt, so says: “South Africa has a proud tradition of globally successful technology entrepreneurs. Thawte (Mark Shuttleworth’s company) and Dimension Data are just two examples out of many.
“As a country, we face enormous economic challenges which we have to overcome if we are to build a stable, prosperous society. Supporting our local tech entrepreneurs is a way to build on our strengths.”
Snapt itself is proof that the tradition of globally successful South African technology entrepreneurs continues to run strong. Although the company was only officially launched in 2012, it already has over 1 000 global clients representing 10 000 licences, and has achieved annual growth of 400%. On the back of this success, it opened a US sales office last year, and plans to obtain a five percent share of the US application delivery software market, which is worth $6,5-billion in total.
Johannesburg-based Blakey himself is a serial technology entrepreneur – a previous venture was Opteq International, a global networking hardware company. Although he is only just into his thirties, Blakey can be described as an IT industry veteran. At 11, he became the youngest person to receive A+ certification as a computer technician, and at 13 was the southern hemisphere’s youngest Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert.
Snapt was developed to provide the world’s best and most affordable application delivery software. In today’s world, business increasingly runs on applications housed on the Internet. A business’s success is therefore dependent on its ability to keep its applications secure and running optimally in order to provide the best possible customer experience. Snapt is designed to do just that.
“The concept behind Snapt is actually quite simple: to provide the solution to a real problem for today’s application-dependent businesses – but at the same time to offer it at a price that would totally disrupt the market while offering the very best service,” Blakey says.
Snapt offers its software on a free trial. If, after subscribing, clients decide they no longer need the service, they can simply stop paying the low annual or monthly fee – and keep the software.
“South Africa’s tech industry has the potential to compete globally. That is why I am so passionate about helping other start-ups, and taking our tech companies global,” Blakey adds. “And Snapt’s success has a big spinoff for entrepreneurs everywhere. Because it’s so affordable, it enables a start-up in Durban, say, to offer the same customer experience as a big multinational – a great example of how building up our local technology sector can also enables wider economic growth. I hope South African entrepreneurs seize the opportunity.”
