Alexandria Procter

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT ALEXANDRIA PROCTER

I founded DigsConnect, now the largest student housing marketplace in Africa, as an undergrad student at the University of Cape Town, after being elected onto Student Government.DigsConnect has connected over 230 landlords and tenants to date, generating tens of millions in lease value for homeowners while ensuring that students find a home. With our partners, DigsConnect is available in more than 400 cities worldwide, listing more than 1.3 million beds.My book, Upstart, was published in Feb 2024 (NB Publishers) and became a national bestseller, currently at number 8. Upstart chronicles the journey of building my first startup.I was appointed to the board of directors for the National Youth Development Agency by President Ramaphosa in Nov 2021 when I was 28. I was previously a director at the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative. Cabinet appointed me to the board of SENTECH (Chair: Investment Committee) in June 2025.In 2023/24 I launched \"One Million for Democracy\", with the goal of getting 1 million young South Africans registered to vote. By the time registrations closed we had achieved 1.6 million new young South Africans on the voters roll.In 2019 I was mentored by Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape and winner of World Best Mayor Award (Cape Town), on state governance and politics at the highest levels. That same year I launched Libraries for Entrepreneurship, an initiative aimed at developing digital entrepreneurship in the Cape Flats.In 2024 following a UNDP strategy lab, I founded a small venture capital fund, Pharos. We\'re currently deploying £1 million in startup investments. I\'m having fun documenting the process on my TikTok and Spotify podcast!In 2020 I launched a small publication, The Aviation Club, writing about startups, tech, my life, politics, development economics, literature, philosophy, entrepreneurship, love and my travels, with what I hope is a wry attempt at humour. I\"m pursuing a Masters at Oxford University on a fully funded merit scholarship.I love trail running, horseriding, skiing, sailing, mountaineering, tennis and ocean sports. I have summitted Kilimanjaro, trekked the Inca Trail and Everest Base Camp. I’m pursuing my pilots licence at Stellenbosch Flying Club. I’ve travelled extensively, circumnavigating the globe when I was 17. I’m a member of Mensa SA and Mensa UK. I’m a relentless optimist and, as a Roman Catholic, ground myself in the presence of God, gratitude, kindness, curiosity, empathy, fun and excitement for life.