Nicoli Koorbanally established Chakana Consulting in 2019, focusing on strategy, business development and optimisation, mentoring and coaching, and leveraging a firm’s intellectual assets to enable value creation.

Until February 2019, she was the Group Manager of the CSIR’s Licensing and Ventures Office that provided CSIR-wide support for Intellectual Property (IP) management, policy development and implementing processes and guidelines for facilitating effective transfer of CSIR technologies through licensing and new venture creation. Nicoli worked closely with funding bodies such as the Technology Innovation Agency, Industrial Development Corporation and National Empowerment Fund.

Nicoli is a registered Technology Transfer Professional and WIPO certified trainer on intellectual property management in SMEs, with a passion for innovation. She has managed projects such as the operational establishment of the South African Finland Knowledge Partnership on ICT Programme (SAFIPA), the establishment of the Southern African Mobile Applications Lab (mLab) supported by the World Bank's InfoDev Programme and the Department of Science and Technology, and was a founding member of the South African Innovation Network (SAINe).  

She also worked for, and later served on the Board of the Softstart Business and Technology Incubator in Midrand, one of South Africa’s first public-sector incubators established with funding from the European Union. She also served as a director of Technology Finance Corporation SOC Ltd, a CSIR subsidiary and currently serves on the Board of WITS Commercial Enterprise (Pty) Ltd. Nicoli was appointed by the Minister of Trade and Industry as an adjudication panel member on the Support Programme for Industrial Innovation (SII) over a 4-year period until February 2019.

Nicoli spent 5 years of her career at the National Research Foundation as a Professional Officer and Acting Focus Area Manager of the Economic Growth and ICT Focus Areas. Here she was actively involved in grant proposal evaluation and grant-making, and participated in programmes such as the Technology and Human Resources for Industry programme and the Telkom Centres of Excellence.

Nicoli has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from the University of Kwazulu Natal and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Pretoria.

Nicoli’s experience in the South African National System of Innovation, coupled with her extensive network across multidisciplinary sectors, positions her well to support the building of exceptional enterprises in Africa.