Founding Story

"As an entrepreneur that has founded many businesses, I have personally experienced the challenges that small and medium enterprises face. Management is like fighting a hydra, you solve one problem two more appear, time is something there is never enough of, you higher staff with the expectation of lightening your workload but end up with more work, customers can be frustrating, suppliers are not always reliable, a lot of the time decisions are between a rock and a hard place and when you finally get everything running smoothly, loadshedding stage 6 happens.

Business is not easy, but it is worth the fight. Nothing compares to the feeling of fulfillment you get when you overcome adversity and provide for your family, the families of your employees and deliver to your customers. SME’s are the backbone of South Africa, they represent more than 90% of businesses and employ more than 50% of the workforce. Your role as a business owner is vital to South Africa and your business must go on.

This is why I felt it necessary to develop a solution that would assist SME’s and their owners. Our world class team can seamlessly bridge the gap between where the SME is and where it can to be. Instead of paying ridiculous unaffordable amounts for this service, our partnership structure means pay you.

That is how WeBUYSME’s was born!"

- By Alex Ely, The Founder

Who We Are

We are a well experienced group of professionals with over 100 years combined executive experience across multiple disciplines including financial, operations, strategy, entrepreneurship, digital marketing and tax. Our team members have served as executive directors for some of the biggest companies in South Africa such as Barclay’s Wealth, PSG Konsult, Mazars, Chevron Africa and Astron Energy. They have been responsible for billions in assets under management, raised billions in finance and completed billions in acquisitions.

Board of Directors

Alex Ely

Head of Acquisitions

Alex has gained his experience through the proprietary trading of stock markets and founding companies such as Goon Valley Animation, Prosperous Health Holdings and Digital Branding SA. He has a wide range of expertise including fund raising, financial management, digital marketing, ecommerce, leadership, sourcing executive management, building deal flow and negotiating.

Helgardt Lindes

Chairman

With 19-years’ experience the Financial Services Sector Helgardt has successfully led the financial function of high-profile businesses including PSG Konsult Ltd and Barclays Africa Wealth, Investment Management and Insurance (“WIMI”). Having worked as a Group CFO in emerging and established markets, he has been exposed to strategic planning, understand regulatory compliance across jurisdictions and have led high-performance international teams.

Lester Jacobs

Operations Expert

Lester has served as an executive director on both Chevron and Astron Energy Boards, supporting company strategy, direction and corporate governance. His comprehensive experience has provided him with robust strategic, operational, technical and commercial skills, enabling a holistic and integrated approach to business. He has a track record in leading and developing diverse teams to deliver business results.

Dean Meyer

CFO

Dean is an experienced CFO with extensive international experience serving on multiple boards. He has experience in a broad range of industries both at an operational and executive level and has raised billions of rands to finance assets, acquisitions and projects. During his career he has worked across a wide spectrum of sectors including insurance, manufacturing, engineering, construction and tourism.

Paul Austin

CA

Paul has experience, knowledge and qualifications that help successfully solve accounting, tax and finance problems and challenges. Paul has a broad range of experience in corporate finance, law, auditing, accounting and tax. Paul has over 37 years accounting experience in which he has been involved in over 100 transactions amounting to over R60 billion. During his experience he has worked for top accounting firms such as Mazars and BDO.