{"id":653683,"date":"2026-06-15T11:59:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=653683"},"modified":"2026-06-15T15:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T13:10:17","slug":"the-south-african-brothers-who-backed-a-cryptocurrency-giant-and-flipped-recruitment-on-its-head-are-getting-into-luxury-safaris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/653683-the-south-african-brothers-who-backed-a-cryptocurrency-giant-and-flipped-recruitment-on-its-head-are-getting-into-luxury-safaris.html","title":{"rendered":"The South African brothers who backed a cryptocurrency giant and flipped recruitment on its head are getting into luxury safaris"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

OfferZen co-founders Malan and Philip Joubert are part of a team behind a new startup aiming to become the digital backbone of Africa’s high-end safari industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two brothers have founded and funded numerous successful startups in South Africa. Both attended high school at Somerset College in Cape Town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The older of the two \u2014 Malan \u2014 matriculated in 2003 before enrolling at Stellenbosch University to obtain a degree in electrical and electronic engineering, merged with computer science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his last year of studies, he founded FireID as a mobile security business specialising in two-factor authentication solutions for corporates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip matriculated in 2006, before studying industrial engineering at Stellenbosch University between 2007 and 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He admitted in a Fully Vested podcast that he spent more time surfing than attending classes during that time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malan invited Philip to work at FireID during one of his varsity holidays. He enjoyed the experience so much that he continued working at the company after his classes resumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Instead of skipping classes and going surfing, I was skipping class and going to work,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip initially worked in marketing while he was still a “very mediocre” software developer. “The tech team was extremely good, and so my ability to make an impact there was quite limited,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“On the sales and marketing side, they had invested a lot less, so I saw that as my opportunity to shine by focusing on the area of the business where there wasn’t as much attention.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FireID went bankrupt after a major funding round fell through in 2008 due to the global financial crisis. Malan bought out the company’s investors for a “pittance,” mainly to retain its name and logo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company was relaunched as a venture builder in 2009, far removed from its original business. Over the next few years, it would incubate and help launch numerous successful tech companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the most noteworthy were cryptocurrency exchange Luno, QR code-based payments platform SnapScan, insurance platform Root, JourneyApps, and Pondering Panda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bold new idea<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Malan Joubert (left), OfferZen CEO Matt Beck, and Philip Joubert (right). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, the brothers founded what they are perhaps most well known for: the reverse recruitment marketplace for IT professionals, OfferZen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company flipped the conventional approach to hiring on its head by having companies pitch their job opportunities to software developers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over a decade, OfferZen expanded into Europe, with offices in Amsterdam. It has assisted over 100,000 tech professionals with getting jobs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip served as OfferZen CEO for nearly a decade before handing over the reins to Matt Beck in early 2024. The brothers continue to hold stakes in the firm, but have recently taken on a brand new venture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brothers’ latest venture is Magic Safari, founded alongside former Root founder\u00a0Louw Hopley, as well as e-commerce systems builder Chris Lemmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip is the company’s CEO. While still in stealth, he recently said the firm was profitable and already had some of Africa’s top luxury lists using its software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a LinkedIn post advertising for a data engineer to join the team, he provided some details about the company’s ambition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Magic Safari is one of those ‘we’re either going to change the industry or explode on impact’ bets,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What I can tell you is that we’re certainly not short on ambition \u2014 we’re doing what would have been four separate startups a few years ago.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting the stage for lodges to meet visitors early<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Philip explained some of the main goals of Magic Safari. “Planning a safari requires human conversations with a dozen suppliers to discover availability, pricing, routing constraints, and rules,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s slow, error-prone, and expensive. Magic Safari makes planning computable so that trips can be planned in minutes instead of hours or days.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data engineer will be given over 10 Claude Code Max 200 accounts to create data pipelines from fragmented booking systems, rate sheets, spreadsheets, PDFs, media folders, websites and inboxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Magic Safari website, he also explained how the platform would benefit safari lodges. “The best lodges have always treated hospitality like theatre,” he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Every detail considered. Every touchpoint choreographed. But the show doesn’t start at check-in. It begins months earlier, when travelers start planning their dream safari.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip said that Magic Safari would allow lodges to claim their place in the guest journey without rejecting agents or spurning others who could amplify their message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Your lodge already knows how to hold a guest’s attention once they arrive. The stage is set, the details are rehearsed, and the performance of hospitality is delivered with care,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But today, the opening act is online. To stand out, you need a direct presence where guests experience your voice long before they ever step into camp.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Malan and Philip Joubert \u2014 South African tech entrepreneurs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Joubert brothers share a light moment in OfferZen’s earlier years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Philip presenting at the OfferZen Merge Conference in 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Part of the OfferZen team in 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Philip after being named as one of Mail & Guardian’s list of 200 noteworthy Young South Africans in 2022.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Philip on a recent bushwalk. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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OfferZen co-founders Malan and Philip Joubert are part of a team behind a new startup aiming to become the digital backbone of Africa’s high-end safari industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":653755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[25095,42992,105897,42418,41209,42456,12695,38978,21139,105899,25019,58284],"class_list":["post-653683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-fireid","tag-luno","tag-magic-safari","tag-malan-joubert","tag-offerzen","tag-philip-joubert","tag-pondering-panda","tag-root","tag-snapscan","tag-south-african-tech-startups","tag-stellenbosch-university","tag-tech-startups"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653683"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653683"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654204,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653683\/revisions\/654204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}