Jacqueline Aylett, founder of a travel technology startup in Cape Town, has been nominated for the Stevie Awards, the world’s premier business awards. Affectionately known as the Stevie, this is taken from the name Stephen, derived from the Greek word stéfanos meaning crown. Since 2002 the Stevie Award trophy has been presented to organizations and individuals in over 60 nations for achievement in business and is regarded as one of the world’s most coveted business awards. Jacqueline has been nominated in the categories ‘Female Entrepreneur of the Year in Europe, the Middle East & Africa’ and ‘Most Innovative Woman of the Year – Technology’.
Jacqueline is fascinated with harnessing the power of technology to improve lives and is passionate about people connecting globally with freedom. In 2017, she discovered a unique and disruptive data roaming solution pioneered in Asia.
Via a mobile app, convenient and affordable data can be purchased on demand. Using a microchip sticker on your own SIM card or your eSIM, your data roaming solution rests in the palm of your hand.
Jacqueline recognised the huge potential in introducing this disruptive technology to Africa where data is expensive and people struggle with staying connected when travelling in Africa and internationally. She invested to become a global partner of Flexiroam Asia and negotiated distribution rights in Africa.
Flexiroam Africa (Pty) Ltd was founded by her in 2018 and since then the company has established a B2B and B2C customer base, becoming profitable in less than two years later.
In spite of the global crisis, Jacqueline was able to pivot her business from providing data roaming for international travellers to providing virtual global data to connect people to a virtual conference.
Once international travel starts up again, the original business model will spring back into life but now there is an equally attractive new solution aimed at providing online access to virtual events. Jacqueline’s vision is to establish a footprint for the company across Africa by building a strong country network of Flexiroam Africa partners.
Her message to female entrepreneurs in technology is to look out for disruptive solutions that have the power to improve lives by solving big pain points.
