om , ▁in ▁H igg ins ’ ▁native ▁South ▁Africa . ▁The ▁initial ▁seed ▁fund ing ▁and ▁continued ▁support ▁were ▁provided ▁by ▁Professor ▁Y air ▁Ta uman , ▁Professor ▁Abraham ▁Ne yman , ▁Mr ▁D anny ▁Bar nea ▁and ▁Mr ▁Z oh ar ▁G ilon . ▁bid or bu y ▁was ▁officially ▁launched ▁with ▁a ▁massive ▁market ing ▁campaign ▁in ▁January ▁ 2 0 0 0 , ▁led ▁by ▁N itz an ▁Tal ▁as ▁the ▁man aging ▁director , ▁and ▁within ▁months ▁made ▁bid or bu y ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁leading ▁e - bus iness es ▁and ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁strong est ▁internet ▁br ands ▁in ▁South ▁Africa . ▁This ▁campaign ▁won ▁ 2 ▁A PE X ▁awards ▁for ▁the ▁ 2 0 0 0 ▁launch ▁campaign . ▁Between ▁February ▁and ▁April , ▁ 2 0 0 0 ▁N itz an ▁Tal ▁launched ▁the ▁websites ▁in ▁India ▁and ▁Australia . ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 1 , ▁after ▁the ▁dot com ▁crash , ▁the ▁Australian ▁site ▁was ▁closed ▁and ▁the ▁Indian ▁one ▁merged ▁with ▁the ▁former ▁main ▁compet itor , ▁Ba az ee . com ▁( which ▁was ▁bought ▁by ▁e B ay ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 4 ). ▁In ▁October ▁ 2 0 0 1 ▁H igg ins ▁went ▁on ▁to ▁run ▁the ▁South ▁African ▁operation . ▁At ▁the ▁slow est ▁point , ▁the ▁company ▁employed ▁only ▁one ▁other ▁person . ▁From ▁ 2 0 0 5 ▁things ▁started ▁to ▁change ▁with ▁the ▁ad option ▁of ▁broad band , ▁always -