Alexandria Procter is a British-South African entrepreneur, venture capital investor, author and technology founder, best known for creating DigsConnect, which grew into Africa’s largest student accommodation and co-living marketplace. She founded the business while studying at the University of Cape Town and led it for seven years as CEO and Head of Product before stepping away from the operational leadership role.
Her entrepreneurial journey began with a practical problem she experienced as a student: the difficulty of finding suitable accommodation. What started as a university-based solution developed into a technology platform operating at significant scale. During its early growth, DigsConnect secured a R12 million seed investment, reported at the time as the largest seed round raised by a female founder in South Africa.
Alexandria has subsequently expanded her work into venture capital, startup development and investment. She is Founder and Managing Director of House of Pharos, a venture house encompassing a fund, venture studio, startup consultancy and content platform.
Her leadership extends into public-sector governance. She was appointed to the board of South Africa’s National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2021 and was appointed to the board of SENTECH in 2025, where she chairs the Investment Committee. She has also represented South Africa in international forums including the G20, COP28 and BRICS.
Alexandria is the author of Upstart, published in 2024, which chronicles her experience of building a technology startup in South Africa. She was also recognised among the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans in the Business & Entrepreneurship category in 2022.
Currently based primarily in Oxford, United Kingdom, with strong ties to Cape Town, Alexandria is completing an MSc at the University of Oxford on a fully funded FirstRand scholarship. In 2026, she also delivered a TEDx talk in Cape Town titled “Blame Yourself, and Preserve Your Agency.”
As a speaker, Alexandria brings a young, entrepreneurial and distinctly African perspective to conversations around innovation, leadership and building businesses in challenging environments. Her story combines startup execution with technology, investment, public policy and youth development.
Speaking themes: Entrepreneurship & startup growth • Innovation & technology • Venture capital and investment • Building businesses in Africa • Women in entrepreneurship • Youth leadership • Resilience and agency • The African startup ecosystem • Leadership and governance.
For your database, I would position her as Oxford / Cape Town based and particularly strong for entrepreneurship, innovation, young leadership and Africa’s next generation of business builders.
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