About
Vinny Lingham was born on 7 February 1979 in East London, South Africa, and has built a reputation as one of the country’s most globally recognised tech entrepreneurs. After launching several successful startups—including the web‑builder Yola and the mobile gift‑card company Gyft (sold to First Data for an estimated $54 million)—he turned his focus to blockchain, co‑founding Civic, an identity‑verification platform. Today he chairs Civic, helms the AI venture Rumi.ai, and serves as co‑founder and general partner of Praxos Capital, a crypto money‑market fund started in 2024. Television audiences know him as one of the Sharks on Shark Tank South Africa, where he invests in up‑and‑coming businesses.
Before Fame
Growing up in the Eastern Cape, Lingham was fascinated by computers long before broadband reached most South African homes. He studied at the University of South Africa and later at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, but real‑world opportunities pulled him out of the classroom. In 2003 he co‑founded Clicks2Customers, a search‑marketing agency that quickly landed international clients, and incubated marketing firm incuBeta the same year. Four years after that he released SynthaSite—later renamed Yola—to allow non‑coders to construct sites using drag‑and‑drop simplicity. The business attracted Silicon Valley capital and millions of users, laying the groundwork for his eventual relocation to California and a career of connecting African ingenuity with world capital.
Trivia
- “Bitcoin Oracle.” Lingham earned this nickname after a series of accurate calls on long‑term Bitcoin price movements, a topic he dissected in numerous media interviews and podcasts.
- World Economic Forum Laureate. In 2009 the WEF named him a Young Global Leader, recognising his potential to shape the future of tech policy and entrepreneurship.
- Record‑breaking fundraiser. In 2018 he and his wife, Charlene, organised a Silicon Valley gala that raised more than R1 million in one night for the Nelson Mandela Institute’s rural‑education projects—an effort that underscored his ongoing ties to South Africa despite living abroad.
- Serial angel investor. Beyond Solana, Filecoin and Render—early bets that later became multi‑billion‑dollar networks—he has backed dozens of seed‑stage startups through Newtown Partners and personal cheques.
Family Life
Lingham is married to marketing‑executive‑turned‑non‑profit‑board‑member Charlene Lingham. The couple live in California with their two sons and frequently travel back to South Africa to see relatives and support charitable causes. Charlene often joins him on philanthropic initiatives, including the Mandela Institute fundraiser and food‑security projects. While the children’s names remain private, Lingham has spoken about encouraging them to think of themselves as “global citizens with African roots.”
Associated With
On Shark Tank South Africa, Lingham shares the panel with advertising mogul Gil Oved, telecoms investor Romeo Kumalo, finance whiz Marnus Broodryk, and automotive entrepreneur Dawn Nathan‑Jones—a quintet known for lively debates and sizable cheques.
In the crypto world he has collaborated with Solana co‑founder Anatoly Yakovenko and Filecoin creator Juan Benet, having invested in both projects during their earliest funding rounds. Through Civic he has also partnered with Fortune 500 firms exploring blockchain‑based identity solutions.
