Motivated by Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, Justin Stanford launched a web security firm which didn’t succeed. But this didn’t demoralize him, he continued to develop his 100 percent-Internet based company in Cape Town.
Justin is an entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist from Cape Town, South Africa and the founder of 4DI Capital. With more than 15 years experience, he is a founder, board member, advisor, and investor to a wide variety of companies in the technology industry.
Growing up on a farm, he decided not to complete high school and instead made the move to the city of Cape Town alone, to pursue his dreams of being an early Internet entrepreneur at the turn of the century.
Despite a few years of failed attempts in the wake of the infamous dotcom crash, he eventually prevailed and successfully launched and grew a pan-African Internet based software company from a garage in the suburbs of Cape Town, centred around the newly emerging theme of Internet security.
Inventions
Justin has positively impacted the tech ecosystem in South Africa, being involved in tech start-ups and entrepreneurial endeavours ever since, and has advised or invested in dozens of companies, domestically and abroad. He serves as a Director of Bettech Gaming (Pty)Ltd, HealthQ Technologies Pty Ltd, Integrat Pty Ltd, and HealthQ (Pty) Ltd.
Today he is the MD of the 4Di Group, a global investment group and family office together with long-term business partner Erik van Vlaanderen, which houses their collective business interests; and co-founding General Partner of pioneering venture capital firm 4Di Capital.
Awards and Recognitions
In 2011, he was listed by the Mail & Guardian for the ‘Top 200 Young South Africans’, in 2013, listed by Forbes for ’30 Under 30: Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs’. For 2014 through to 2017, he was listed by the Institute Choiseul for the ‘Choiseul 100 Africa: Economic Leaders for Tomorrow’, and in 2017 he was listed in the inaugural ‘100 Most Influential Young South Africans’ by Avance Media.
Mr. Stanford is a well-known, established young entrepreneur and tech guru who has disrupt the tech space in Africa. He is a force to reckon with in the tech space in Africa and in the global fora.