Marthinus Strydom

Marthinus Johannes Strydom (born 28 April 1965) is a South African venture capitalist and private equity investor.[1] He is the CEO and Chairman of the MJS Capital Group,[2] a seed stage venture capital company headquartered in Pretoria. Strydom is the lead investor for MJS Capital in companies such as Extremely Gifted Geeks,[3] Coffee Today,[4] Concierge Group, Klippz, Exotic Vacations,[5] and Ribrack. Prior to creating the MJS Capital Group, Strydom was the chief information officer and Marketing Director of automotive group, McCarthy Limited.[6]

Marthinus Strydom
Strydom in July 2015.
Born
Marthinus Johannes Strydom

(1965-04-28) 28 April 1965
Johannesburg, RSA
NationalitySouth African
Alma materUniversity of The Free State (no degree)
OccupationCEO of Ingaro (Pty) Ltd.
Years active1983–present
Parent(s)
  • Hans Strydom (journalist)
  • Gertie Strydom

Strydom is regarded as the pioneer of e-commerce in South Africa. He created the first e-commerce portal in South Africa and continued to create numerous B2C and B2B e-commerce companies.

Strydom was voted as one of South Africa's top ten IT personalities[7] by IT Web in 2012. Eliance, a MJS Capital company in 2013, was awarded the best company to work for[8] by Deloitte. Exotic Vacations has been awarded the top leisure travel company in South Africa[9] for nine consecutive years.

Early life

Strydom was born in Johannesburg. He is the son of Hans and Gertie Strydom. His father was journalist and author[10] Hans Strydom (journalist), who wrote the best-selling book The Super Afrikaners that exposed the Afrikaner Broederbond. Strydom spent his early childhood in Cape Town. The Strydom family moved to Johannesburg in 1973. He graduated from the Die Kruin Art school in 1982. Strydom was conscripted into the South African Defence Force (SADF) where he became an unarmed combat (Krav Maga) instructor. He continued teaching Krav Maga to the SANDF and South African Police (SAP). Through exchange programs he participated in military training and skills transfer exercises with the Israel Defence Forces.

Career

Strydom initially intended to become a lawyer but early into his studies changed his mind. Instead he pursued entrepreneurship. He was the founder of The Peninsula Times, the largest community newspaper in South Africa.[11][12] In 2012, he created MJS Capital, a seed stage venture capital company.

Investments

Strydom has invested in a number of startups primarily in the tech industry but also in other industries. These include:

  • Ingaro[13] (Digital Marketing)
  • Exotic Vacations[14] (travel)
  • CoffeeToday (Coffee shop franchise)
  • Extremely Gifted Geeks (EGG) (incubator)
  • RibHouse[15] (restaurant franchise)
  • Genies (power generator manufacturing and distribution)
  • MJS Consulting Services (technology consulting services)
  • Concierge Group (online concierge services)
  • TopTwenty.co.za (Sold to BRR inc 19 January 2018)[16] (business directories)
  • Budgets4dummies.com[17] (personal finance management)
  • Klippz (web clipping services)
  • 3 Minute Site
  • Investinthem
  • Qwik

Extremely Gifted Geeks (EGG)

The EGG fund was created in 2012, and focuses on investments in early stage technology companies. EGG Inc consists of the EGG Incubator in Johannesburg, South Africa, EGG Fund - the investment arm and EGG Bursary, the personal development division.

Martial Arts

Strydom studied martial arts since his early teens and has been an instructor for 30 years. He owned three training schools in South Africa from 1985 to 2010. In 1983, he became the South African middleweight WKA kickboxing champion. In 1998, he created the martial arts style Shinai Kempo based on a number of practical martial arts styles including Krav Maga, Kenpo and Jiu jitsu.

Photography and art

Strydom is an award-winning[18] photographer and artist.

References
  1. "Marthinus Strydom". whoswho.co.za.
  2. "MJS Capital". MJS Capital. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  3. "egg – Welcome to EGG". Extremelygiftedgeeks.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  4. "Coffee Today". Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  5. "The Leaders in Travel to Mauritius, Zanzibar, Seychelles, Maldives, Far East and other Exotic Destinations". Exotic Vacations. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  6. "Marthinus Strydom – ITWeb". itweb.co.za.
  7. Carl Lang (5 September 2011). "IT Personality 2012 – Marthinus Strydom". ITWeb Technology News.
  8. "Deloitte : Best Company to Work For 2011" (PDF). 2.deloitte.com. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  9. "Sainte Anne Resort takes centre stage for 2013 premier awards ceremony" (PDF). Travel Beat. 1 February 2014.
  10. Ivor Wilkins. "The Super-Afrikaners". Goodreads.
  11. http://saldru.lib.msu.edu/dvd8/Ownership%20&%20Control%201994b.pdf
  12. "A new tabloid in die Cape", Beeld, Cape Town, 12 September 1994.
  13. "Ingaro". Ingaro. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  14. "Exotic Vacations". Exotic Vacations. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  15. "RibHouse". Ribhouse. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  16. "BRR Inc to acquire Top Twenty". brr. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  17. "Budgets4dummies". Budgets4dummies. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  18. "Marthinus Strydom's Awards". Pixoto. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
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