AURA, South Africa’s leading security and safety platform, has appointed Alon Lits as its Chairman with immediate effect. Previously General Manager for Uber sub-Saharan Africa, Lits brings with him decades of experience and aims to assist Aura CEO, Warren Myers, to maximise the opportunities that exist for the growing platform business.
“In my seven-year tenure at Uber I have learnt some valuable lessons and I hope to share these with the Aura team, while helping them continue on their important journey of democratising access to security solutions and medical response across South Africa,” says Lits.
With a career that began in leveraged finance at Investec, Lits started at Uber in 2013 as its first General Manager in Africa. Before leaving, he was a Director responsible for the development and sustainable growth of the business that spanned across seven countries, 16 cities and 60 000 drivers. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and is also qualified as an Associate of the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries in the UK.
Myers is delighted at Lits’ appointment and is confident that he will assist the company to further position itself as a significant platform business in a sector that is in dire need of assistance: “We are looking forward to working with Alon to ensure Aura lives up to its promise of providing a platform that will not only assist in reducing crime, but continue to help all South African’s keep safe.”
Lits, who has watched Aura build its business since inception in 2017, says that the scale that can be achieved through the use of technology is unmatched: “I am passionate about technology-driven businesses and wanted an opportunity to provide strategic counsel to a company that’s mission and vision resonates with mine. I wanted to work with a brand that leverages technology to not redefine businesses, but that use it to make existing industries more efficient. Aura is an excellent example of exactly this scenario.”
As one of the only platforms addressing both security and medical responses, Lits says that Aura has substantial potential not only locally but also cross-border: “I have every confidence that Aura will continue to build a brand synonymous with making South Africa safer. It is already an impressive business and together, we can create something really exceptional.”
