Thys Cronje

Experience

• 

  Sunsat

  Jan 1996 - Jan 1999

  Engineer

  Responsible for the optical and environmental testing and integration of the high resolution remote sensing payload of South Africa's first satellite, SUNSAT, and the payload on South Korea's KITSAT-3.

• 

  Imec

  Aug 1999 - Mar 2003

  Digital Engineer

  Design, development and test engineer for various mixed signal imaging detectors and sensors for the European Space Agency.

• 

  Sunspace

  Mar 2003 - Jan 2008

  Functional Engineer

  Functional Engineer responsible for the electro-optical design, develop and testing of remote sensors on satellites. Design, developed and tested the electro-optical components of SumbandilaSat, South Africa's second satellite launched in to space.

• 

  GeoMed

  Apr 2005 - now

  Co-Founder and Non-Excutive Director

  GeoMed, a South African based company, is a market leader in the development of clinical decision support systems for emerging market countries. The company has a portfolio of leading medical technology and service companies offering solutions and services through a range of innovative business models.From Geomed, Geo-ICT Health, Diacoustic Medical Devices and MezzanineWare were born.

• 

  SensiCardiac

  Feb 2008 - Mar 2017

  Excutive Managing Director

  Responsible for funding, product development, business strategy, developing business opportunitiesand cultivating partnerships. Part of the responsibilities included complex contract negotiation and liaising with legal and IP counsel when needed. Presented quarterly reports to the Board of Directors including goal roadmaps. Major successes include:- Negotiated several rounds of funding for the company, from seed to Series B.- Created a huge validated heart sound database for structural defects of the heart.- Obtained three granted patents in the USA.- Obtained FDA clearance for three medical device products in the USA.- Established a USA based satellite office at the M2D2 University of Massachusetts’ incubator for medical devices.- Launched an Artificial Intelligent cardiac diagnostic product in the USA with several customers.- Established working relationships with several multi-national organizations.- Negotiated and created an exit opportunity for the company’s investors. Show less

• 

  Mezzanine

  Oct 2011 - now

  Co-Founder and Non Executive Director

  At Mezzanine we work with our clients and partners in creating productive societies across Africa.Founded in 2009, we use our market leading expertise in the digital environment to develop Mobile Solution Platforms and provide Technology & Advisory Services for products in the following industries: Agriculture, Education, Health and Utilities.

• 

  Stone Three

  Apr 2017 - Mar 2018

  Product Manager & Business Development Consultant

  Serve as a key member of the Healthcare Business Unit’s Management team. Tasked to set the product strategy and roadmap, conduct market research, generate product requirements, determine specifications, pricing, and the development timelines for the agile software development team.Responsible for identifying business opportunities for the unit’s TeleHealth and Healthcare Machine Learning technologies in the USA and Canada, develop and manage relationships with current and new customers and negotiate long-term technology licensing agreements.Successfully launched the product in the USA and on-boarded early customers. Show less

• 

  Simera Sense

  Apr 2018 - now

  Head of Business Development

  As a key member of the management team, he is responsible for developing the roadmap and executing the commercial strategy of Simera Sense’s Earth Observation products. Successes:-- The implementation and execution of a product roadmap and business development strategy across various functional areas for the products’ life cycle.-- Created and maintained strategic alliances and partnerships with all the major satellite platform manufacturers and downstream Earth Observation service providers across the space industry. -- Designed, implemented and executed a successful commercialization strategy that lead to sustainable revenue within two-years from establishing the business unit.-- Establishing himself as a global recognised Product Leader using agile product commercialization processes. Show less

• 

  Quiet Entrepreneur

  Jan 2019 - now

  Chief Blogger

  Blogging about agile product commercialization, entrepreneurship and challenges to scale your business.