Anita Nel
Speaker
Anita Nel
Chief Director: Innovation and Commercialisation: Stellenbosch University
Chief Executive Officer: US Enterprises (Pty) Ltd
Anita Nel is the Chief Director: Innovation and Commercialisation at Stellenbosch University and also the Chief Executive Officer of US Enterprises (Pty) Ltd, the university’s commercial company.
Anita is an experienced technology transfer professional with her roots in technology innovation and venture capital, stretching as far back as 1998. She started her career in technology with Thawte Consulting, a digital security firm, and transitioning through the company’s acquisition by Verisign in 2000, she moved to HBD Venture Capital Fund. At HBD, Anita was involved in investing in various technology startups before taking up the challenge of joining and restructuring Innovus, the technology transfer office of Stellenbosch University.
Since she has started at Stellenbosch University, Anita has grown Innovus to become one of the leading university technology transfer offices in Africa and in the process established herself as a thought leader in the industry. As part of this journey, Anita has established the highly successful LaunchLab business incubator at Stellenbosch University and was instrumental in starting and raising the University Technology Fund that provides funding for new technology startups at South African universities.
As a well-respected contributor to the international technology transfer fraternity, Anita currently serves on the Alliance of Technology Transfer Professionals adjudication panel for registered technology transfer professional applications and holds several directorships on boards of young and upcoming technology companies. She holds a master’s degree in psychology as well as a postgraduate diploma in education and a bachelor’s degree in science.
Presentation:
Making innovation matter | Day Two
A conversation on how innovation and technology transfer matters in higher education