Investors in Wallace Ventures (SA) - PhD & Neuroscience Claims
Is Carl Niklaus Wallace running a scam?
You decide for yourself…
We are looking into an individual named Carl Niklaus Wallace, following recent concerns about representations he is making in South Africa around the topics of neuroscience, autism and ADHD, and his alleged credentials.
We are working on establishing the facts, and we would particularly like to hear from people who have previously invested in, worked for, partnered with, or done business with him.
Wallace has spent much of the past decade presenting himself as a technology entrepreneur and has been associated with a substantial number of companies and ventures, including ViGO, Digital Drawing Room, Wapp, Digital HQ, Digemy, ydox and Dewly, among others. Some of these entities remain active. Others have subsequently ceased operating, entered deregistration processes or been deregistered.
There is also a documented history of outside investment into businesses with which Wallace was associated. For example, contemporary startup reporting records external investment into Digemy and describes Wallace as an entrepreneur who had raised multiple rounds of funding across ventures.
We are particularly interested in hearing directly from former investors because there are allegations now being examined concerning whether investors in some of these ventures received the outcomes they were led to expect, how invested funds were ultimately used, and what happened when particular businesses stopped operating.
What makes the current situation unusual is Wallace’s very recent change in professional identity...
Until recently, his publicly documented career was overwhelmingly in web, startups and business. He is now publicly describing himself as a neuroscientist and a PhD candidate in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Westminster in London. Much of the material being publicly posted by this individual exhibit clear signs of being AI-generated.
In March 2026 he wrote publicly in LinkedIn:
“I am now a PhD candidate in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Westminster, London.”
He is now operating Spectrum Circle, which offers products, seminars and other services relating to neuroscience, autism and ADHD. Spectrum Circle publicly presents Wallace as a neuroscientist and relies heavily on neuroscience and academic language in describing its work.
The academic background known to us does not appear consistent with this sudden transition at all. For that reason, the claimed University of Westminster affiliation is currently being independently checked through appropriate channels. A formal enquiry has been submitted to the University of Westminster Graduate School asking it to confirm whether Carl Niklaus Wallace is or has been registered there as a PhD candidate or doctoral researcher, whether the programme he publicly claims is accurate, and whether his claimed affiliation was active when he began making these statements.
The matter has also been reported to the Health Professions Council of South Africa because the services concern autism, ADHD and neuroscience and may be understood by members of the public as involving specialist health, psychological or scientific expertise. The HPCSA has been asked to determine whether any of the representations or activities fall within areas subject to professional regulation.
The South African events ticketing service Quicket has also been notified because Spectrum Circle events are being advertised and sold through its platform. Quicket has been asked what its process is when potentially misleading academic or professional representations connected with health-related events are brought to its attention, and whether listings should remain available while those questions are being investigated.
Nothing in this post should be interpreted as confirmed claims of wrongdoing. Please submit any information privately and refrain from public allegations. The purpose is to create public awareness of the early facts, establish what actually happened across these businesses and whether the latest academic and professional representations now being made are genuine. Should evidence come to light confirming suspicion, such evidence will be sent through to appropriate authorities using appropriate channels and procesures.