A technology holding company based in Stellenbosch is quietly building a portfolio of cutting-edge tech companies, some of which are now finding success in international markets.
company based in Stellenbosch is quietly building a portfolio of cutting-edge tech companies, some of which are now finding success in international markets.
Alphawave is led by CEO Frans Meyer, who has a PhD in electromagnetics and a master’s in electrical and electronic engineering, from the University of Stellenbosch. He co-founded the company 28 years ago as EMSS with Gronum Smith, who also has a PHD from Stellenbosch, to provide electromagnetic consulting services to the South African industry.Together they developed computational electromagnetic software, which grew into a standalone product called FEKO.
Today, Alphawave has 16 companies in its portfolio and more than 350 employees, including 165 engineers, developers and data scientists. The main focus of the companies in the group’s portfolio is on electronics, data and software. It has domain expertise in sensor technology, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science and software development , with an emphasis on helping build South African companies and take their solutions abroad, where appropriate.