Michael Jordaan, Mxit

Michael Jordaan, First National Bank’s former CEO and current Mxit chairman, has made good on his love of disruptive technologies by investing in AngelHub Ventures, which provides capital for start-ups.

AngelHub Ventures, which was previously just AngelHub, provides backing for companies that are starting out, but have disruptive business models enabled by technology, and target existing profi table industries and markets.

The businesses it looks for also need to have the potential to return 10 times the investment within five years.

Jordaan, who has joined the AngelHub team, points out there is a shortage of angel investors and the venture hopes to play a small role in fi lling this gap. “It is really important for the economy that we have a vibrant start-up sector. After all, entrepreneurs are the only ones who can create real jobs.”

It is generally underestimated how, in the next decade, existing large organisations will be disrupted by small, focused entrepreneurial teams who use technology to create new business models, says Jordaan. “We hope to invest in such teams once they have proven the concept and help with their rapid growth.

“I hope we can, over time, create a number of home-grown success stories where lean start-ups took on big competitors and succeeded, by giving more value to customers, probably disrupting the old ways of doing things.”