Julia Fourie is the CEO of HBD ("Here Be Dragons") Venture Capital, the company founded by Mark Shuttleworth which has invested just under R120 million since 2006 and still actively manages those investments. She's also a mother of two with a passion for IT and an awareness of the value of communication at all levels of business.

Julia Fourie has been with HBD since it was established in September 2000 and, as a founding member, supported in the setting up of the organisation. She is the CEO of HBD Venture Capital, is a member of HBD's investment committee and is a non-executive director on a number of HBD's investments. 

Julia's career has spanned a number of industries including hospitality, financial services and human resources. It was during this time that Julia discovered a true passion for IT which led her to study for a B. Tech in Information Technology. Julia also has an Honours Degree in Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management from UCT. After completing this she took up the role of leading the development team at Thawte - a digital certification authority. 

During her time at Thawte, Julia established the WOT (web of trust) concept, assisted in building the architecture for the system, brought structured project management and facilitation between development and marketing departments and acted as a notary. After the sale of Thawte to a US consortium, Verisign, Julia supported in the set up of HBD Venture Capital, establishing it as one of the few venture capital companies focused on funding early stage businesses in South Africa. She initially played a key role on the investment team of HBD's first venture capital fund, HBD Fund1, which focussed on start up businesses. She was then promoted to CEO of HBD in 2006 and led the company's strategic shift from start up to early stage companies through the launch of HBD Fund2. 

Julia leads a dynamic and driven team which counts among its key successes, the profitable sale of one of HBD's investments, Red Five Labs, as well as discovering and investing in a range of exceptional early stage South African businesses. These include moyo, a contemporary African hospitality brand, OrderTalk, developers of sophisticated online ordering software, EDH, radar tracking technology pioneers and Csense, the creators of highly sensitive trouble-shooting software. HBD has also been instrumental in pioneering the venture capital concept in South Africa. 

Julia's passion remains information technology, but she has expanded her business expertise to include developing business strategies, negotiation, mentoring of entrepreneurs as well as general and financial management. 

In addition, Julia launched concepts such as the Big Idea, and is a trustee of the Shuttleworth Foundation, a non-profit organisation that supports innovation in education in South Africa and a director of BSquare Communications, which, through the Hip2b2 brand, aims to inspire young South Africans to embrace their education, specifically in maths, science and technology. 

Julia is passionate about her family and friends. She has a wide range of interests that keep her energised.

A few personal thoughts on innovation and creativity

I see innovation and creativity as a result of something that you are ...… such as curious about the world, such as having a passion to make things better / quicker / cheaper, enjoying challenging yourself to do more, wanting to do better than others (competing).

While being innovative to me is a result of this – its not the end at all but just the beginning – because without implementing your idea, creativity would not be truly born and become sustainable and ultimately an inspiration to others to do.