In this episode of Who’s Behind the Desk, Lizelle sits down with developer and entrepreneur Tanya Chikopera, founder of Battora, a platform designed to spotlight African creatives and connect talent across the continent.

Tanya shares the journey from working as a developer in Cape Town to leaving a stable tech role to pursue a much bigger vision: building digital infrastructure that helps African artists, filmmakers, musicians, and storytellers get discovered, booked, funded, and supported.

What began as late-night coding sessions after work slowly evolved into a mission to rethink how African creative talent is represented globally. Battora aims to bridge the gap between creativity and opportunity by helping artists build discoverable profiles, connect with collaborators, access educational resources, and create sustainable careers.

Lizelle and Tanya explore the realities of building a startup while holding a full-time job, the challenges creatives face with monetization and visibility, and how technology when used thoughtfully can amplify authentic African voices.

The conversation also dives into the impact of AI on the creative economy, the importance of community, and why Africa’s diversity and cultural depth may be one of its greatest creative advantages.

This episode is a thoughtful look at entrepreneurship, technology, and storytelling and the power of building platforms that help communities create together.

Battora

https://www.battora.com/

Bizcommunity

https://www.bizcommunity.com/

Cape Town Office

https://capetownoffice.com/

This episode was recorded and sponsored by Cape Town Office, made for and by the community of coworkers.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Tanya’s background
00:31 The inception of Battora and its African vision
04:33 The journey of building Battora while working full-time
08:36 Discovery and matching for African creatives
11:51 Supporting artists with booking and funding modules
14:06 Monetization, content protection, and AI challenges
19:45 Authenticity, community, and Africa’s unique story
24:13 The power of diversity and cross-cultural exchange
29:11 Next steps, collaboration, and community building
33:35 Inspiring African stories and global impact
35:52 Surprising encounters and future visions

This episode of Who’s Behind the Desk was recorded and sponsored by Cape Town Office : made for and by the community of coworkers.

Cape Town Office is a coworking space built for entrepreneurs, creators, freelancers, and remote teams who believe great ideas grow faster around other people.

Learn more about the community: https://capetownoffice.com/

If you enjoyed this conversation, please like, share, and subscribe.
Send this episode to someone building something interesting.

New episodes of Who’s Behind the Desk explore the founders, creators, and builders shaping ideas, businesses, and communities, one desk at a time.

This episode of Who’s Behind the Desk, I chat to Igarashi Harumi, a Taiwanese content creator with nearly 150k followers who splits her year between Taiwan, Cape Town & little bit of Europe in between.

Igarashi shares her journey from journalism to content creation, how she built a loyal online community, and the practical realities of monetising content and effective engagement.

We explore cross-cultural living, personal branding, audience trust, and what it takes to turn storytelling into a sustainable career.

Recorded at Cape Town Office.

Follow Igarashi here:⁠

https://www.instagram.com/lgarashii/reels/⁠

⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@lgarashii⁠

⁠https://stan.store/igarashi⁠

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@igarashiharumii

This episode of Who’s Behind the Desk was recorded and sponsored by Cape Town Office : made for and by the community of coworkers.

Cape Town Office is a coworking space built for entrepreneurs, creators, freelancers, and remote teams who believe great ideas grow faster around other people.

Learn more about the community: https://capetownoffice.com/

If you enjoyed this conversation, please like, share, and subscribe.
Send this episode to someone building something interesting.

New episodes of Who’s Behind the Desk explore the founders, creators, and builders shaping ideas, businesses, and communities, one desk at a time.