Matthew Buckland (22 August 1974 – 23 April 2019)[1] was a South African Internet entrepreneur and businessman who founded and exited[2] digital agency and publisher Creative Spark, acquired in 2015 by UK firm M&C Saatchi PLC (LSE: SAA), the holding group of M&C Saatchi.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Buckland was also the founder of Burn Media, a suite of technology publishing brands which includes Memeburn, Ventureburn.com, Gearburn.com and others.
Buckland previously headed the online division of the Mail & Guardian, thereafter he started 20fourlabs at Naspers' news24.com,[10][11][12] the largest South African online news publisher, owned by Naspers.[13] While at the Mail & Guardian Buckland founded Thought Leader.
In 2015 he was selected as a "Master of Digital", sitting down with actor Idris Elba for a "Q&A Session".[14][15]
Buckland lived in Cape Town with his wife and two daughters.
Early life
Buckland studied journalism at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.[16] He worked in London for the BBC's then-commercial web arm, beeb.com as a developer, and then a web development producer.[17] He then later worked as the Internet editor for prime-time TV show, Carte Blanche, before becoming Managing Director of Mail & Guardian's online division. He was the eldest son of Andrew Buckland and Janet Buckland, a prominent South African acting family.[18][19][20][21]
Entrepreneurship
Buckland co-founded Amatomu in 2007, and in 2010, Creative Spark[22] and Burn Media, which he funded himself after being unable to raise venture capital for it.[23] Five years later, in 2015, he sold a majority share in his company to the FTSE-listed agency, M&C Saatchi.[24] The deal included the sale of both the digital agency and the publishing arm, which owns titles such as Memeburn and Ventureburn.[25] He later retook control of the publishing arm when exiting his former company in 2018.[26]Ventureburn is a site that reports on the startup, entrepreneur and investor ecosystems in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
He was the Master of Ceremonies[27] at the Silicon Cape Initiative launch event and was elected to its inaugural board. The Silicon Cape Initiative is a South African-based organization which aims to turn the Western Cape into a high-tech startup hub. Buckland credits this organisation for inspiring him to move out of the corporate world into entrepreneurship.[28]
In 2012, Buckland was recognised in the Power of 40: 40 Entrepreneurs Under 40 "Doing Interesting Things"[29]
