An engineer by training and passionate about problem-solving, he leverages his technological expertise to deliver high-impact digital solutions for businesses and individuals.

Thomas Brennan (photo) is a South African software engineer and tech entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Franc, a startup specializing in investment and financial technology.

Founded in 2018 by Brennan and Sebastian Patel, Franc aims to simplify investing and saving for South Africans. The platform offers a robo-advisor that helps users develop personalized investment strategies based on their financial goals. It provides access to a cash fund (money market) with higher interest rates than traditional savings accounts, and an equity fund tracking stock market performance. Franc is fully digital and requires no minimum investment or administrative paperwork.

Thomas Brennan graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2003 with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He then pursued further studies at the University of Oxford, earning a PhD in Engineering Science in 2008. His professional career began that same year at AHL, a British investment management firm, where he worked as a quantitative analyst. That same year, he also became an associate product manager at Google.

In 2009, he joined GeoMed, a South African IT company, as a research consultant. The following year, he became a research assistant at the University of Oxford. In 2012, he moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a research engineer. From 2015 to 2018, he served as head of research and development at Discovery Ltd, a South African insurance company.

By Melchior Koba,

Editing by Sèna D. B. de Sodji