Stafford Masie

Stafford commenced his education in South Africa before undertaking studies in computer science at Tel Aviv University, Israel. He has been involved in the IT industry for nearly 20 years, and was associated with pre-eminent IT companies such as Dimension Data, Novell and Google. His passion for technology led to him holding senior executive positions at Novell USA and subsequently at Novell South Africa, and being responsible for establishing Google’s presence in South Africa. After leaving Google in 2009, he established his own business and has since established several technological businesses that have expanded globally. He is known as the inventor of the Thumbzup “Payment Pebble” and “Payment Blade”.

One of the recent companies he founded raised capital via an International VC and the USA based Visa Incorporated also acquired an equity stake. He continues his entrepreneurial journey today as an inventor in early stage IT start-ups. He also lectures at several business schools, has participated in television & radio broadcasts and is an international guest speaker on the influence of technology on modern life, society and education. Stafford joined the board in January 2014.