This isn’t the ’80s anymore. Women are increasingly challenging traditional stereotypes and doing their own start-ups, running coding academies and taking up senior positions in global tech companies. Here are some of the rising stars who are contributing in a big way to South Africa’s tech industry.

Emma Kaye

Emma Kaye is the founder of Bozza, a discovery platform that allows artists and musicians to interact directly with their fans. The site accepts all genres of video, music and poetry, and gives fans a great way to keep up with the latest content on their mobile phones. Bozza is just the latest in a series of successful ventures for Emma. In 1996 she co-founded Triggerfish Animation, an award-winning animation company that produced content for the local (and later international) markets. 

From there she moved on to mobile content and entertainment, first as CEO of Breakdesign, and then Gate7, which focused on mobile consulting in the entertainment and social communities. She is passionate about emerging business sectors such as mobile entertainment.

Aisha Pandor

The co-founder of SweepSouth, Aisha Pandor, started her career in consulting before setting out as an entrepreneur. SweepSouth is an online platform for ordering and paying for home cleaning services within a few minutes. In the home cleaning industry, Aisha saw the potential for technology to empower domestic workers and connect them with work opportunities.

Aisha received a South African Women in Science Award in 2011 and was named in the Mail & Guardian's List of 200 Young South Africans in 2012.

Julie Taylor

Julie is the founder of Guns & Rain, an online platform for contemporary fine art from Southern Africa. Julie’s goal with the site is to help artists, especially those who are young and emerging, be better represented in the global art economy.

Before Guns & Rain, Julie was head of Google's communications, public affairs and public relations for Sub Saharan Africa. She also pioneered an internet education programme to help strengthen African media and encourage digital innovation in newsrooms.

Start your own career in tech

If you want a career in technology, don’t let anyone stand in your way. All you need is a hunger to learn and a passion to solve problems.

• Learn to code for free at Codecademy.
• Kickstart your career by working on real projects at CodeX.