Matt C Smith

54 Collective is a leading venture capital firm revolutionising investment and scaling idea to early-stage ventures throughout Africa. As a commercial and impact fund, our catalytic capital provides founders with the tailored funding they need to scale while providing investors with outstanding returns. The catalytic capital our founders receive is combined with value-add support through our Venture Success Platform, enabling entrepreneurs to build without boundaries as they solve Africa’s greatest challenges. Vital to our mission is fostering gender inclusion through the founders and ventures we support, allowing them to be inclusive in their product and service design. Media queries: press@54collective.vc

54 Collective is a leading venture capital firm revolutionising investment and scaling idea to early-stage ventures throughout Africa. As a commercial and impact fund, our catalytic capital provides founders with the tailored funding they need to scale while providing investors with outstanding returns. The catalytic capital our founders receive is combined with value-add support through our Venture Success Platform, enabling entrepreneurs to build without boundaries as they solve Africa’s greatest challenges. Vital to our mission is fostering gender inclusion through the founders and ventures we support, allowing them to be inclusive in their product and service design. Media queries: press@54collective.vc

I travel the world hosting some of the largest conferences to the most intimate private corporate events, creating unforgettable experiences for these audiences. Whether you need a moderator for your event, a presenter of your live or live-streamed show, or someone to tie the whole event narrative together as the host and master of ceremonies, Im your guy! I have spent 5 years hosting 100s of events to 1000s of people perfecting the art of building a connection with an audience, to create a community feeling amongst the attendees of the event or company. So they are left feeling unified by their collective experience of a standout event. I specialise in creating lasting impressions that are tailored to your organisation and industry, using hyper-relevant intellectual-humour to do so. I would absolutely love to have a chat with you and see how we could team up and gurantee your next event is one for the books. Who is Matt? I was born in South Africa in 1990, moved to London in 98, and have been based out of Oslo since 2017. My career started in growth-stage venture capital at Conde Nast, investing in 2 unicorns; Farfetch & Vestiare Collective. I then followed my entrepreneurial interests and founded a media company (The Lunicorn), to bring entertainment to the innovation industry. My short-form documentaries have been viewed over 2 million times, and I’ve worked with the likes of Microsoft and the European Commission. In November 2020, the company was acquired by Atender.io. Today, I am a professional event host and corporate entertainer travelling the world hosting some of the largest events and creating the most memorable experiences for these audiences.

Condé Nast is a global media company producing the highest quality content with a footprint of more than 1 billion consumers in 32 territories through print, digital, video and social platforms. 
The company’s portfolio includes many of the world’s most respected and influential media properties including Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Self, GQ, The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler/Traveller, Allure, AD, Bon Appétit and Wired, among others. Condé Nast Entertainment was launched in 2011 to develop film, television and premium digital video programming. At Condé Nast we value diversity of background, views and cultures. We celebrate people for their personal qualities, their skills and contributions. And we recognize the power our brands have to influence and shape culture, catalyze action and help make our world a better place for all.