Blockchain has proven to be one of the revolutions of the 21st century, with its advent changing the world view on internet transaction and security. Although relatively new to the African continent, a business outfit that has taken a course to introduce this revolutionary technology to the continent is Coronet Blockchain, an enterprise led by co-founders Shadrack and Pretty Kubyane.
In this exclusive interview with African Leadership Magazine, Mr Kubyane provides insight into Coronet and its venture in the blockchain industry.
Kindly introduce yourself and give us some insight into your rich entrepreneurial background
My early lived business experiences started from within a family business. Across the window of 8 years of age till 13, my mom started multiple businesses and handed them over to me to manage. My last corporate job was with Deloitte. Then I Co-Founded a management consulting firm with a speciality focus on market entry, growth and scaling businesses i.e., taking new products onto the market and business expansions. One of those flagship projects breakthroughs led to the founding of Coronet Blockchain when we scaled an informal business from 500 USD to 2 million USD in 36 months leading to more brands requiring the same success at scale.
You are very active in the blockchain industry as a leader and Co-founder of a visionary enterprise. What is the leadership structure of your enterprise like?
Our Coronet leadership structure exists across 4 categories. Kindly introduce yourself and give us some insight into your rich entrepreneurial background.
Exco: this includes the co-Founders and Advisory board based here in Sandton South Africa.
Technical: we have a team of engineers, architects, design thinking and user experience across 5 countries via our seed capital funder, across South Africa, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, US, Egypt and London.
Research & Development: we work with 4 academic institutions across the US and South Africa at the Professorship level, students/interns, and a vast alumni network [in the industry] for market validation and go to market strategies to map the trajectory of our solution across Africa & other markets.
Administration: This includes customer service and onboarding team within each country of delivery.
What inspired the creation of Coronet Blockchain, and what services do you offer that make your company stand out from other tech-based firms/companies within the African terrain?
We scaled a human hair extensions brand from 500 USD to 2 million USD within 36 months, which used to operate out of a chaotic taxi rank into 4 bricks & mortar branches, from 2 employees to a team of 40. We set up 2 of those 4 branches inside 5-star hotels.
That is when multiple brands across Africa approached us, demanding the same success story. We then deemed it fit, after carrying out continent-wide due diligence, to set out to create a category level solution to deliver transformation at scale. Our blockchain-enabled marketplace solution focuses on product provenance, access to market through eCommerce and business sustainability by providing business systems such as client bookings, smart procurement, inventory management.
Click HERE TO ACCESS THE FULL INTERVIEW on page 45 of the February 2022 edition of the African Leadership Magazine
