MARIA PIENAAR

A former CIO at Cell C, Maria Pienaar brings two decades of experience working in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley tech industry to Blue Label Ventures. Over the duration of her career, Maria has helped launch over 30 successful wireless and Internet applications and services for enterprise and consumer markets. Maria has a strong track record in driving revenue through identifying new products and services that connect people and ideas with market opportunities. She has expertise in building strategic partnerships to open new distribution channels, reaching new domestic and international markets. As Cell C’s CIO, she launched the first Wi-Fi Calling service in Africa as well as innovative partnerships with the likes of Facebook. Prior to Cell C, she was a Vice President at the Immersion Lab, and before that, she was a senior consultant with Finpro and helped establish the first Finnish Innovation Center FinNode USA. At the Finnish Innovation Center she was part of a key team defining a new acceleration model for Finnish startups.

Maria began her career in the data network group of Telkom, South Africa where she helped shape the South African online and telecommunications market. Maria was one of the team members that launched Vodacom in South Africa, one of Vodafone’s most successful properties in the world.