ENTREPRENEUR: Giraffe founder Anish Shivdasani
The developer of award-winning local app-based start-up Giraffe has raised a fresh batch of funding to grow the platform
When former Londoner Anish Shivdasani arrived in SA in 2010 he had a driving ambition. "I wanted to form a start-up company that would transform the way things are done," he says.To realise his ambition three components had to be put in place first. "I needed an idea, funding and solid partners."By 2014 he had all three. His revolutionary idea was to create a fully automated platform that would radically reduce the cost and complexity of bringing job seekers and employers together.Vital seed funding — US$1m of it — was secured from US venture capital organisation Omidyar Network. Two partners, Bradley Cowie and Shafin Anwarsha, had come on board the start-up, which was to become Giraffe."They are still part of the team," says Shivdasani, who heads Giraffe as its CEO. Cowie is lead developer and Anwarsha is product head.Giraffe was launched in March 2015. But it was not all plain sailing. "To make ourselves known to work seekers we began by handing out flyers at taxi ranks in Johanne...
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