Vodacom company IOT.nxt announced today that Nico Steyn is stepping aside as CEO of the firm he co-founded with partners Terje Moen and Bertus Jacobs in late 2015, with immediate effect.
However, Steyn remains as shareholder and will continue to serve on the board, assist in the leadership transition and will work with the executive team to drive the growth and innovation strategy of IoT.nxt in a new capacity.
Telecommunications company Vodacom, in 2019, acquired a majority 51% stake in IoT.nxt in order to tap into opportunities presented by the Internet of things (IOT).
It said the acquisition would aid in moving the company a couple of notches up in terms of servicing the 4.5 million connections that already exist in this space.
“I will now focus my time and effort in areas of the business that I most enjoy and where I can continue to add meaningful value. As a founder, making this decision is not easy,” says Steyn.
“However, I know the exceptional executive team that we have assembled over the past 18 months is well positioned to embrace the next phase of commercialisation and corporatisation that is required for IoT.nxt's journey of globalisation.
"IoT.nxt has been my passion and my life for the past six years. My partners and the IoT.nxt board backed my vision of creating a world-class product and company. IoT.nxt is perfectly positioned for exponential growth and I am looking forward to supporting this in my new role, but also making up for some of the time lost with my family. Launching a start-up, especially in the very competitive technology industry, requires sacrifices which I am confident will yield benefits over the coming years. I am both delighted and excited about further contributing to the company to achieve its goal of being a dominant global force in IOT,” Steyn adds.
"I want to thank the chairman and the board for the opportunity to contribute to the tremendous development and growth of the IoT.nxt. It has been a privilege serving as CEO and I wish the board, the executive team and our passionate employees even greater success in the future as we continue to build this remarkable business together."
Commenting on the announcement, IoT.nxt chairman Wayne Fitzjohn says: “Nico has played a critical leadership role, successfully driving the business as co-founder and CEO. On behalf of the board and shareholders I would like to sincerely thank Nico for his service and look forward to continuing to build IoT.nxt into the future with him.”
Fitzjohn adds: “Going forward, as we settle into the new managerial structure, we will be reviewing the leadership requirements in critical areas of the business with a view to ensure we continue to deliver on our strategic objectives and global aspirations."
Shane Cooper, who joined IoT.nxt in December 2019, and currently serves as managing director of IoT.nxt Africa, will assume the role of acting CEO until such time as the board confirms a permanent appointment.
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