About Maria
MARIA PIENAAR
CTIO
Corporate Innovation
Executive Advisor
Investor
Private Company Board Director
Maria is a Board Director, Investor and Product Leader who drives company growth by speeding up innovation and opening new global markets. Her perspectives are informed by her extensive experience serving in leadership roles at companies ranging in scale from startup to Global 100, in the complex fields of Telecommunications, Cyber Security and Information Technology.
Maria takes an end-to-end view, and is adept at plotting and executing strategies for developing, launching and scaling new products and services. She also excels at driving innovation by building strong partnerships with highly innovative organizations in private industry, academia, and government.
Maria co-founded Blue Label Ventures, a Corporate VC focusing on investments in Digital Health, IOT, Cyber Security, Fintech (including Insurance Tech) and Enterprise IT services. Previously, she served as CIO at Cell C (a market-disrupting mobile carrier), and she held various leadership roles in Business Development, Product Management, and Marketing at Lucent, Nokia, Vodafone, Globalstar, and various startups. She has worked in many international markets including the US, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, and the UK.
Maria earned her BSc in Electrical Engineering from Pretoria University, South Africa.
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