# Pieter de Villiers

> Pieter de Villiers is the Co-Founder and CEO of Clickatell, the company that invented the world's first SMS API in 2000 with four lines of code and went on to pioneer chat banking and chat commerce globally. Based in Stellenbosch, South Africa, he led Clickatell to become the first African startup backed by Sequoia Capital, raised over $118 million in total funding, and built a platform that processes roughly 9 billion messages monthly for more than 10,000 enterprise clients across 220+ countries. He also chairs SiMODiSA, a non-profit focused on digital skills development and startup acceleration in Africa.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Clickatell
- **Organizations:** Clickatell, SiMODiSA, Endeavor South Africa, SABLE Accelerator Network
- **Nationality:** South African
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Optometry, Unknown (South Africa)
- **Known for:** Built and published the world's first SMS API (internet-to-mobile) in 2000, Led Clickatell to become the first African startup funded by Sequoia Capital (2006), Pioneered the world's first chat banking solution with ABSA in emerging markets

## Career timeline

- **1997** — Started career as an optometrist; felt 'perpetually unhappy' in retail-style optometry practice
- **1999** — Joined Micrologix to identify internet opportunities and manage e-commerce strategy
- **2000-02** — Co-founded Clickatell in Cape Town with twin brother Casper de Villiers, Danie du Toit, and Patrick Lawson
- **2000-11** — Launched the world's first SMS API (four lines of code); 76,000 websites adopted it within three months
- **2003** — Co-founder and best friend Danie du Toit diagnosed with leukemia and passed away; de Villiers named his middle son Danie in his honor
- **2006** — Secured Series A ($6M) from Sequoia Capital - first investment by Sequoia in an African startup; relocated to Silicon Valley
- **2011** — Raised Series B ($12M) from DAG Ventures
- **2012** — Received Social Economic Impact Award from San Jose Business Journal
- **2015** — Returned to South Africa after nearly 10 years in San Francisco
- **2019** — Selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur at the 92nd International Selection Panel in Riviera Maya (the 2,000th entrepreneur in Endeavor history)
- **2022** — Raised Series C ($91M); Clickatell continued pioneering chat banking with ABSA and tokenized WhatsApp payments
- **2024** — Leading Clickatell into AI-powered agentic commerce era; platform processes ~9 billion messages monthly

## Achievements

- Built and published the world's first SMS API (internet-to-mobile) in 2000
- Led Clickatell to become the first African startup funded by Sequoia Capital (2006)
- Pioneered the world's first chat banking solution with ABSA in emerging markets
- Launched first in-channel tokenized payments within WhatsApp
- Grew Clickatell to 10,000+ enterprise clients across 220+ countries
- Raised $118.5M in total funding including a $91M Series C
- Named one of 'Top 40 Under 40' executives by Global Technology Business
- Recipient of Mobile Village Mobile Star Award for Visionary of the Year in Wireless
- Won Visiongain Research Mobile Content Awards Industry Personality of the Year
- Social Economic Impact Award from San Jose Business Journal (2012)
- Selected as Endeavor Entrepreneur - the 2,000th in the organization's history (2019)
- Chairman of SiMODiSA, driving the TechXit initiative to create 1 million digital skills jobs in South Africa

## Latest updates

- **2024-01** — Clickatell reported record growth with expanding enterprise client base across financial services, retail, and telecom sectors
- **2022-02** — Clickatell closed $91M Series C funding round to accelerate chat commerce platform expansion
- **2023-12** — Pieter de Villiers honored at WASPA Waspies awards representing Clickatell's leadership in South African mobile messaging
- **2019-12** — Selected as Endeavor Entrepreneur at the 92nd International Selection Panel - the 2,000th entrepreneur in Endeavor's history

## Links

- Website: https://clickatell.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/pieterdevilliers
- Twitter/X: http://www.twitter.com/Clickatell
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/Clickatell-187073743959

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/pieter-villiers
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-15