The fact that he lists his spare time interests as marathon running, mountain biking, kayaking and skiing shows the type of challenge that drives entrepreneur and innovator Error Damelin.
The South African who is joint founder and CEO of the digital finance company Wonga , never stands still for a moment as he looks for new and better ways of bringing improvements to the consumer market.
Damelin received an MBA in Business Administration from Boston University's School of Management, after graduating from the University of Cape Town. He then spent several years working as an investment banker, helping raise funds for innovative start-ups, before becoming part of a team which founded the steel production company Barzelan in 1997.
From investment banker to entrepreneur.Two years later Errol Damelin moved to the United Kingdom where he founded his first start-up with the software company Supply Chain Connect Ltd., which provided supplier network and product inventory solutions to more than 250 blue chip companies from around the world.
The need for Wonga
By 2005 Errol Damelin was looking for a new challenge and with his entrepreneurial skills and background in investment banking, realized that many individuals in the UK needed an easier, more transparent and simpler short-term credit product to deal with short-term cashflow issues.
Damelin understood that the process of applying for and receiving a loan from a bank was a drawn out and often stressful process. With that in mind he launched Wonga.com in October 2007 which was built on unique and sophisticated digital technology, enabling applicants to apply through the Internet for a short-term loan and, assuming they were successful, to receive the funds directly into their bank account within minutes.
The venture was backed with funding from leading firms such as Greylock Partners, Balderton Capital and Accel Partners
Wonga’s system is secure, incredibly simple to understand and, most importantly of all, provides total clarity, enabling the customer to select the amount they wish to borrow, the duration of the loan and the total amount to be repaid, without any hidden costs or financial small print to cause confusion.
Errol Damelin believes in a responsible lending policy, so Wonga's technology declines over three-quarters of first loan applications. Since the company began, it has made more than seven million loans, with the typical lender profile being a young employed single person
Wonga for Business was launched in May 2012, to provide short-term cash assistance to small businesses, with the same strict lending criteria and Wonga’s rapid growth has seen them open offices in Damelin’s homeland of South Africa, as well as Poland and Canada
Recognition
Errol Damelin’s achievements as a technical innovator have been recognised, with him being awarded The Guardian’s Entrepreneur of the Year, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Digital Entrepreneur of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year at the UK's Growing Business Awards, Founder of the Year at the TechCrunch Europas; whilst Wonga was ranked in the Sunday Times Tech Track top three for two years running (the first company to ever do so) as well being awarded the “fastest growing company” at the Media Momentum awards in Berlin.
No comments:
Post a Comment