hey gorgeous, it's

Portrait of Marelize Venter

HI, I'm MARELIZE

HEAD OF PRODUCT
OPENCORPORATES

FOUNDER
KINETECH COMMUNITY

12+ YEARS
FINTECH × DATA × AI

BUILDS HER OWN
PRODUCTS FOR FUN

( SCROLL FOR THE GOOD STUFF )

hey, it's me —

PRODUCT LEADER, BUILDER,
AND YOUR TEAM'S secret weapon

I'VE SPENT 12+ YEARS TURNING MESSY, DATA-HEAVY PROBLEMS INTO PRODUCTS PEOPLE ACTUALLY USE — FROM MOBILE MONEY IN EAST AFRICA TO COMPANY DATA SERVING 2M+ PEOPLE A MONTH.

Employee #4 at Net Purpose (scaled to a £10M Series A). Co-led a 60-person data org at fintech unicorn Teya. Now Head of Product at OpenCorporates, the world's largest open database of companies — where I built the product function from zero.

Off the clock, I build for fun: an invite-only social club, a fitness app with attitude, and a community of technologists who'd rather have dinner than "network". Generative AI collapsed the distance between idea and product — I prototype what I pitch.

  • 12+YEARS IN
    PRODUCT
  • 70PEOPLE LED
    GLOBALLY
  • 2M+MONTHLY USERS
    SERVED
  • £10MSERIES A
    BACKED

Selected work

No. 01

FUN GIRL
summer

"YOUR CITY, YOUR PEOPLE, SORTED."

An invite-only community platform for people who want a fuller calendar — without one organiser run ragged. Members drop a link (a gig, a gallery late, a long lunch), FGS pulls in the details, the group backs a date, everyone shows up. Designed, built and shipped solo, AI-native from day one.

  • FOUNDER · DESIGN · BUILD
  • NEXT.JS
  • SUPABASE
  • INVITE-ONLY
VISIT FUNGIRLSUMMER.CO.UK ↗
fungirlsummer.co.uk Fun Girl Summer about page Fun Girl Summer sign-in on mobile

No. 02

FITMISS

"YOUR COACH MISSED YOU 💖"

A fitness coaching app with the energy of a group chat and the manners of a personal trainer. Neo-brutalist stickers, typewriter labels, a login that flirts back — because software that makes you show up should make you smile first. Next.js + Supabase under the hood. Pure serotonin on top.

  • PRODUCT · DESIGN · BUILD
  • NEXT.JS
  • SUPABASE
  • DESIGN SYSTEM
VISIT FITMISS.VERCEL.APP ↗
fitmiss.vercel.app FitMiss login screen FitMiss on mobile

No. 03

KINETECH

"KINSHIP IN MOTION, PURPOSE IN TECHNOLOGY"

A non-profit community for technologists who'd rather share a meal than swap business cards. Monthly women-in-tech dinners, a consolidated events calendar, and bi-weekly Peer Connect sessions — run on one belief: you don't consume a community, you co-create it. Build > Buy.

  • FOUNDER & HOST
  • COMMUNITY
  • DINNERS
  • NON-PROFIT
VISIT KIN-TECH.ORG ↗
kin-tech.org KineTech community homepage

the fine print —

HOW I operate

01

STORY IS STRATEGY

A roadmap nobody can retell is a roadmap nobody will follow. I write products like narratives — tension, resolution, and a reason to care.

02

EVIDENCE OVER EGO

Research, data, receipts. I clear 87-ticket backlogs and re-platform 2M-user products by fixing root causes — never just the symptoms.

03

ZERO-TO-ONE ENERGY

First PM, first product function, first customer-intelligence team. I love a blank page. Momentum is a feature — I ship it early and often.

04

BUILD > BUY

AI collapsed the distance between idea and product. I prototype what I pitch — everything on this page was built, not briefed.

the receipts —

EXPERIENCE

  1. 2025 — NOW OPENCORPORATESThe world's largest open database of companies Head of Product ~30% ARR GROWTH · 2M+ USERS · FIRST PRODUCT FUNCTION
  2. 2024 — 25 CANDOSA + HUMBLE AISMB banking (UK/FR) & AI productivity Founder & Product Advisor 0→1 BUSINESS BANKING · BAAS DEALS IN 2 MONTHS
  3. 2022 — 24 TEYASMB payments unicorn, 2,000+ people Head of Data Operations · Lead Data PM 64% BI ADOPTION LIFT · 95+ SOURCES · 60-PERSON ORG
  4. 2020 — 22 NET PURPOSEESG data for impact investors — employee #4 Data Specialist → Lead PM / Head of Data 50K → 1M DATA POINTS · £10M SERIES A · 70-PERSON TEAM
  5. 2016 — 20 OLIVET CONSULTINGOwn practice — product, UX & impact finance Founder & Consultant R8M IMPACT FUND PLATFORM · 300 MEMBER ORGS
  6. 2014 — 16 JUMOAfrica's first fintech unicorn Customer Intelligence Lead FIRST CI FUNCTION · FIELD RESEARCH ACROSS 3 COUNTRIES
  7. 2013 STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITYAccounting & information systems Junior Lecturer WHERE THE STORYTELLING STARTED

★ HIGHLY COMMENDED, TRANSFORMATION LEADER OF THE YEAR — WOMEN IN TECH EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2025  ·  MCOM DEVELOPMENT FINANCE (DISTINCTION), UCT  ·  CIMA QUALIFIED  ·  ALSO: MUSICAL THEATRE. ASK ME LATER.

ready when you are, gorgeous —

LET'S BUILD SOMETHING
people love.

EMAIL ME ↗ LINKEDIN ↗ OR COME FOR DINNER ↗

MRLZ.VENTER@GMAIL.COM · LINKEDIN.COM/IN/MARELIZEVENTER · LONDON