Well-known technology industry entrepreneur Willem van Biljon has joined Takealot.com, the e-commerce website that recently announced it had secured about R1bn in new funding, as co-CEO and chief technology officer.
Van Biljon co-founded Mosaic Software, the company that developed the Postilion payment system. He was also one of the leaders that built Amazon’s EC2 cloud service and Nimbula.
“We are thrilled to have someone of Willem’s stature, a Takealot.com board member since August 2011, join us in an executive capacity in our Cape Town head office,” says co-CEO Kim Reid. “He has a world-class technical background paired with serious business acumen making him ideal to join our team and contribute to taking Takealot.com from a challenger brand to South African market leader in online retail.”
Last month, Takealot announced it has secured US$100m in funding from Tiger Global Management, an international investment company.
Tiger Global has been a shareholder in Takealot since its inception. Reid said at the time that Tiger Global had been involved in discussions for some time about how the e-commerce site can play a more aggressive role in South Africa’s e-commerce space.
Tiger Capital took control of Takealot, then Take2, in 2011.
According to Reid, the company has enjoyed growth in excess of 100%/year and wants to “increase that growth rate”.
“If you look at the size of the market right now, there is a R550bn opportunity in which e-commerce is only just beginning to play a role.”
Takealot sells DVDs, games, music and books and items in lifestyle categories such as home and kitchen, baby and toddler, health and beauty, and sports. It has warehouses in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and has taken over fulfilment logistics with the purchase last year of a controlling interest in Mr Delivery. — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media
