Alexander Bouzidi

Founder and hands-on operator who has built and run businesses across the UK, China and South Africa. Combines commercial execution with deep operational ownership across company formation, international procurement, manufacturing, logistics, customs, team building, B2B partnerships and market entry. Comfortable taking ambiguous problems from first principles through to a functioning, scalable operation.

Co-Founder & COO at Canopy (2025-01 – Present)

Founded and built a mobile digital out-of-home advertising business, owning the operating model from company formation and international supply chain through hardware deployment, driver acquisition, team building, commercial partnerships and campaign delivery.

• Saved ~$290K on screen procurement, reducing cost from ~$350K to ~$60K through direct manufacturer sourcing, contract negotiation and supply-chain optimisation.
• Cut bespoke roof-racks cost 80%, from ~R8,000 to R1,600 including installation, through supplier negotiation and hands-on engineering.
• Built an 800+ independent-driver network through Baba Africa, with additional fleet reach through Moove.
• Cut manufacturing lead time from 3–4 months to 1 month by negotiating directly with the manufacturer and fast-tracking production.
• Reduced installation time from 4 hours to ~25 minutes by developing and refining the deployment process from first principles.
• Built the complete China → South Africa supply chain: manufacturer sourcing, production QA, international freight, customs clearance, storage and installation.
• Personally solved vehicle-electrical and battery-drain / cut-off issues, learning vehicle electrics from scratch to unblock deployments.
• Built Canopy's operating infrastructure: contracts, driver recruitment, installation processes, procedures and the Operational Bible.
• Recruited the initial team, including a CRO, Marketing Lead, auto electrician and external specialists / contractors.
• Developed commercial relationships with Vodafone, Moove, Baba Africa, Moving Walls, MTN, Unilever, KFC, Coca-Cola, Careem and Yoco.
• Developed live campaign/location insights, GPS-triggered creative and substantive AI-assisted weekly reporting.
• Established the South African business from the ground up, including legal/business setup and customs despite having zero prior experience in the country.

Founder at PowerPal (2023-08 – 2025-07)

Founded and operated a cross-border hardware business importing power-bank rental stations from Chinese manufacturers into the UK.

• Managed manufacturer relationships, product specification, contract negotiation and quality control.
• Oversaw the full import cycle from factory to UK last-mile logistics.
• Generated real revenue and validated the hardware distribution model before transitioning focus to Canopy.

English & PE Teacher / Education Programmes at Futian & Nanshan Districts Schools (2023-01 – 2025-06)

Taught at public primary schools and delivered educational programmes across Shenzhen.

• Taught 600+ students per week across two Shenzhen public primary schools, delivering English and PE to classes of up to 40 students across Grades 1–4.
• Designed and delivered lessons against semester syllabuses, adapting to different ability levels and significant language barriers; also ran enrichment activities and school events.
• Delivered programmes for ages 4–14 through KLS Learning Centre, including educational trips and cultural activities; hosted debate / Model UN events and was selected as a judge for the annual Qinghai Bilingual English Talent Show at the Bank of China in Shenzhen.

MA in International Security – Loughborough University (2021-09 – 2022-06)

BA (Hons) in Human Geography – Sheffield Hallam University (2018-09 – 2021-06)