Nicolas Haralambous, 34, better known as Nic Harry, is the model of a young entrepreneur in South Africa.
His first business, Motribe, was in the technology sector, his second in retail and his new venture is in the media space.
Motribe: Haralambous co-founded Motribe, a mobile community platform that grew to more than a million members. It was acquired by Mxit.
The acquisition process of this company taught Nic a lot about exiting a company. He is one of the few young people in South Africa who has built a company and sold it for millions at 27 years of age.
NicHarry.com: The NicHarry.com brand is synonymous with the new approach to retail, which he has championed. He started it in 2012, with a core product of socks made from bamboo, which are designed and knitted in Cape Town.
Currently, the company offers a full range of products that include socks, ties, scarves and umbrellas. He has just launched underwear as a second core product.
Haralambous noticed there was a lot of choice for the ladies, whereas the men were left with boring grey, black and brown. This was a gap he chose to exploit with NicHarry.com.
The fashion retail company he founded has applied tech in its execution by selling his products online, though still enabling access to the physical store.
According to Haralambous, the focus of NicHarry.com is less about retail, more about the experience one feels when one purchases an item from NicHarry.com stores.
He believes that in retail the customer’s experience matters for survival.
The media company is an integration of his life experiences in media and technology. He studied media at Rhodes University and cut his teeth in journalism at 702 (Talk Radio) and at Financial Mail.
His interest in tech and media has culminated in the creation of his new media company, an online publication dedicated to covering the FinTech industry.
