Mark Esterhuizen: Driving Billion-Dollar Marketplaces and Rapid Venture Growth
Mark’s work is best illustrated during his tenure at one of Australia’s and APAC’s fastest-growing food e-commerce and supply chain technology businesses.
In the high-stakes world where investors bet on founders who can turn ideas into multi-million-dollar enterprises, there exists a rare breed of operators. These individuals possess the insight to scale businesses, the strategic acumen to drive capital growth, and the entrepreneurial grit to transform industries. Mark Esterhuizen is one of them.
A seasoned executive with a remarkable ability to scale technology-led businesses, Mark has built his career at the intersection of capital, technology, and operations, driving transformative growth for high-potential startups, marketplace platforms, and supply chain enterprises. His track record spans launching billion-dollar marketplaces, driving triple-digit revenue growth, and securing multi-million-dollar capital raises, all while orchestrating the operational backbone that makes companies investor-ready.
Scaling from Concept to $180M+: Unlocking the Global Fresh Supply Chain
Mark’s impact is perhaps best illustrated by his five-year tenure as Chief Financial and Operating Officer (CFO/COO) at Peter Manettas Seafood Group, one of Australia’s and APAC’s fastest-growing food e-commerce and supply chain technology businesses. As a global leader, the group was recognised and awarded in both the Deloitte Tech Fast50 and Asia Pacific Technology Fast 500 awards. In 2019, Mark joined the company when it was a single entity, operating a seafood e-commerce brand solely in Sydney. Over the next five years, he helped transform it into a $180M+ enterprise with four distinct business units, two major marketplace platforms, and a growing footprint across Australia and Asia Pacific.
Through his strategic vision, Mark led the growth and commercialisation of Manettas Seafood Market (D2C e-commerce platform), ShoreTrade – dubbed “Amazon for Fish” (B2B seafood marketplace), Freshey (fresh produce B2B marketplace), and SFMBlue (a joint venture powering the Sydney Fish Market). The growth was staggering: 40x revenue growth, 10x customer base expansion, and $30M+ in capital raises. He accomplished all this in less than five years.
What made this growth possible was Mark’s ability to not only drive revenue growth but to also co-create a technology-powered infrastructure that streamlined last-mile logistics, data-driven pricing, and cross-border trade that gave the group’s technologies a competitive moat.
Investors took notice, and Mark played a pivotal role in securing the capital, and structuring the deals that catapulted the company's valuation from $5M in Seed to $180M+ by Series B.
The Operator-Investor Mindset
Mark’s ability to scale businesses isn’t accidental. It’s the product of a career intersection among venture capital, finance, and strategic advisory. A Chartered Accountant and SAICA Top 35 under 35 finalist, Mark began at KPMG within the financial services division, where he spent three years working with major financial services firms and publicly listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. After that, he was seconded to Barclays Africa, helping them restructure their trading P&L function, an experience that sharpened his financial acumen and ability to drive large-scale financial turnarounds.
Following this, Mark moved to the U.S. to work with CrossCountry Consulting, assisting with post-merger integrations for NYSE-listed financial institutions. Lured back to South Africa, Mark was an Investment Portfolio Manager at one of the very top performing boutique asset managers, featuring in the top percentile, investing and managing 2bn+ assets under management.
In 2018, he joined Deloitte’s Commercial Advisory Team in Sydney, Australia, where he worked directly with high-growth technology companies, founders, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI). His work focused on scaling venture-backed companies, executing growth strategies, and preparing businesses for capital raises or exits.
It was during his time at Deloitte that Mark was introduced to Peter Manettas Seafood Group. Initially brought on as an external advisor shaping the growth plan, he quickly recognised the market opportunity and would be scale of the business and transitioned into the CFO/COO role, a move that would define the next chapter of his career.
The Future of Scalable Ventures
Today, Mark stands at the epicenter of high-growth ecosystems. Mark offers a unique partnership: A growth architect who unlocks enterprise value. As the venture ecosystem increasingly prioritises operator-led value creation, Mark Esterhuizen embodies precisely what high-impact companies need: the experience to scale, the acumen to raise capital, and the vision to drive transformative growth. For investors seeking a pathway to billion-dollar outcomes, Mark isn’t just an executive. He turns ambitions into reality.