CEO, Gate7 New Media Pty Ltd (Cape Town)

Before setting out to giving sustainable business direction to an African brand in new media for the mobile screen, Emma Kaye did much the same for African animation and entertainment.

In animation, her credentials as co-founder of Triggerfish Animation (one of the top animation companies producing award winning Sesame Street globally) and AnimationSA.org (the voice of the animation industry), and as founder of the animation festival for Sithengi (Africa’s largest film market), stand out. In the last few years, her experience has catapulted her into the field of new media; first as CEO of Breakdesign, and most recently as founder of Gate7 New Media, a mobile media, entertainment and content company. Breakdesign, became one of the top seven Flash Lite developers globally for Nokia and Adobe under Emma’s direction.

In 2008 Emma co-founded Mobfest - Africa’s first User Generated Mobile Content platform. The first channel was launched, fiction on phones, Novel Idea. It is South Africa’s first and channel text based entertainment mobile channel, serialized fiction written specifically for the phone. Emma Kaye is driving key projects and initiatives within the world of new media, content and entertainment in mobile telecommunications. Emma Kaye is active in mobile entertainment consulting and social development. Widely recognized as a thought-leading industry catalyst in animation and mobility, Emma is often invited to attend global initiatives forging her leadership role in this dynamic environment. Her recent election onto the board of the prestigious Mobile Entertainment Forum  as the first person in Africa to be nominated, is recognition for her thought leadership in the area as well as allowing her unprecedented access to strategic information and research across the entire range of global mobile entertainment activities. Emma has been elected as one of the top 50 women globally in the world of mobile entertainment, for the second year running, a significant accolade for her innovative thinking. More recently Emma has been selected by the Mail & Guardian as one of South Africa’s top business women in 2010.

Says Emma: “Mobility has huge socio-economic, educational, commercial, societal and individual significance. Emerging economies have been hugely resourceful in using mobility in socio-economically important ways, to empower micro enterprises. By embracing mobility as a content delivery platform, emerging countries or continents can leapfrog developed economies, establishing a unique societal brand in a vibrant new industry”.