Passionate about enabling African Athletes. Building a digital ecosystem that aggregates Africa’s top sporting talent, their fans and brands that support them.
As 2023 draws to a close, I reflect on and am grateful for all the milestones that we have achieved this year. Our purpose-led The Podium Pursuit Collective - ProTouch™️ Africa is a culmination of the last 30-years of my career, all wrapped into one exciting legacy! This is what I have learnt: - a true understanding that funding is the toughest challenge that African athletes face. - the power of collaboration and partnerships to find sustainable solutions (especially in Africa) is key. - how to unlock value by aggregating and activating an ecosystem and movement, with a common goal. - how technology and the blockchain are changing the world as we know it. - activating a global fan base is critical to the future funding models of athletes and teams. - the sponsorship models of the past are changing at an incredible pace. - a lot can be done with very little. - it seems impossible, until it’s done! - Nelson Mandela. Thank you to everyone who has played a part in our achievements this year: - our young team curated our launch database of more than 4 500 top performing athletes from 54 African countries, across 36 sports codes. - we released our prototype FanApp - our digital clubhouse - in beta along with our platform providers Blocksport - built out more than 3 000 digital athlete profiles with FanWord to provide athletes from Africa with a new way to build and monetize their brands, as well as share their stories. - commenced development of our digital collectibles, NFT and Tokenization strategy with Capital Block, Blocksport and FanEQT - commenced our capital raise in the US and EU to kickstart our Athlete Impact Fund in 2024. - initiated partnerships with a range of global brands, who we will be introducing to our fans very soon! - connected with over 1 500 new people on LinkedIn that have provided me with meaningful input, encouragement and advice - while cheerleading our project from the sidelines. - watched our young team grow in so many ways and thrive. - help to raise some last minute (and much needed) funds for one of South Africa’s national teams participating in a World Cup in the Middle East in January, using our platform. - celebrated and recognised Africa’s top athlete achievements 365 days of this year! I am really looking forward to 2024 and enabling further the full potential of athletes from Africa while unlocking value for fans, brands and investors. The best is yet to come! #podiumpursuit #Africanathletes
