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Avenesh Kalan

@aveneshkalan

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Strategic CEO and senior operator driving digital transformation and scalable growth across industries.

South Africa

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What I'm looking for

I seek senior roles where I can drive digital transformation, scale businesses across regions, strengthen governance and build high-performing distributed teams.

I am a strategic, growth-oriented Chief Executive and senior operator with 20+ years leading multi-sector businesses across 10 countries and six industries, delivering over $450M in revenue. I combine financial acumen, governance expertise and people-centric leadership to scale ventures, manage regulatory environments (FSCA, AML/CTF) and drive digital transformation and fintech expansion.

I have a proven track record in stabilizing organisations, improving margins through efficiency and pricing, automating onboarding and deploying AI-driven support, and building distributed high-performing teams. I excel in cross-border go-to-market strategy, compliance re-engineering and embedding collaboration frameworks to enable agility and sustainable growth.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Chief Executive Officer

Current

Blockkoin

Jan 2025 - Present (9 months)

Delivered 3.5x gross profit margin growth by driving 60% efficiency gains, cutting costs 20%, automating KYC to reduce onboarding time >90%, and implementing an AI-driven support and enhanced compliance programme.

Strategic Leadership P&L management KYC GTM Strategy Team Building

Group Managing Director

FibreUP

Jan 2023 - Dec 2024 (1 year 11 months)

Achieved 16% revenue growth in a declining sector by building scalable operational frameworks, renegotiating commercial agreements, and embedding risk mitigation and psychological safety to improve retention.

Revenue Growth Contract Negotiation Risk Mitigation Change Management Employee Retention Stakeholder Management Performance Improvement

Managing Director

DNACreations

Jan 2015 - Dec 2023 (8 years 11 months)

Scaled the business from a four-figure startup to an eight-figure valuation and exited a majority stake while leading delivery of projects totalling $450M across six sectors in 10 countries and securing major contracts.

Scaling Business Operations Strategic Partnerships

Manager: Emerging Markets

Vodacom SA

Jan 2006 - Dec 2015 (9 years 11 months)

Launched BlackBerry in South Africa, grew independent channel revenue 8% YoY contributing 20% of regional sales, expanded market share to 60%, and managed large enterprise client accounts and multi-million-rand tenders.

Go To Market Channel Sales Key Account Management Tender Management Market Expansion Revenue Growth Enterprise Sales Client Relations

Pre-Sales Engineer

Channel Data

Jan 2002 - Dec 2006 (4 years 11 months)

Delivered over R1M in reseller revenue by developing enterprise solutions for clients including Konica Minolta and McDonald’s South Africa, supporting sales through technical presales and account work.