Category: Vision

Location: Pretoria, Gauteng

Jeandre van Derham, 24, is CEO and founder of Steelkor Steel and Pipe, a steel and pipe company that launched during the hard lockdown in 2020. Jeandre was pursuing a career in aviation, but dropped his studies during the Covid-19 pandemic and decided to explore his passion of entrepreneurship.

He started the business with just R820. Five months later, he had made a turnover of R920,000. Jeandre had no formal education in the steel industry, but he learned the ropes while working for two steel companies after completing high school.

The young businessman took advantage of the steel scarcity and launched his company at a time when the country’s biggest steel producer was closed due to the lockdown. Steelkor Steel & Pipe was able to assist clients while many other merchants were not operating.

Jeandre has big plans to expand his company, which is said to be valued at R7.5 million, employing five people.

Read more about Steelkor Steel and Pipe here.