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Melvyn Lubega
Technology Entrepreneur | Investor | Forbes Listmaker
Melvyn Lubega is an experienced technology entrepreneur, investor, and actuary by training.1 He is currently a Partner at Breega, a fast-growing early-stage venture capital firm with over $600 million in assets under management, investing in disruptive technologies across Europe and Africa.2
Lubega is best known for co-founding GO1 in 2014, a world-leading online training platform used by over 17,000 organizations in more than 60 countries.12 Under his leadership, GO1 became the first South African unicorn, valued at over $2 billion, and has attracted more than $450 million in investment from notable investors like Softbank, Microsoft, and Salesforce.12
In addition to his role at Breega and GO1, Lubega holds several other positions:
- Non-Executive Director at Adcorp Group, Africa's largest workplace solutions provider1
- Council Member and IT Committee Chair at St John's College in Johannesburg1
- Partner at Breega since 2022, where he focuses on propelling pioneering and purpose-driven founders1
Lubega's educational background includes:
- A Bachelor of Business Science in Actuarial Science & Statistics from the University of Cape Town1
- Master's degrees in Education (Learning and Technology) and Public Policy from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar12
He has received numerous accolades, including being recognized as a Young Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum, winning the Nelson Mandela Award for Leadership, and being the first African recipient of The Lindas, Endeavor Global's most prestigious award.12
Lubega is also known for his thought leadership in digital transformation, the future of work, venture capital, and disruptive innovation. He has been featured in Forbes and continues to be an influential figure in the technology and entrepreneurship landscape, particularly in Africa and Europe.2
Highlights
#MotherSon Following our successful first appearance together over three decades ago, I am excited to join Dr Agnes Ikatekit-Okonera AKA my mom on stage tomorrow @agendawomen 2024!
#MotherSonConversations #MyFirstInvestor #Parenting
Looking back and looking forward:
It’s crazy to think that 9 years almost to the week Andrew Barnes and I submitted our postgraduate dissertations. Then, 5 of us were cozying up in a 2-bed place in Mountain View, California. It was also a week before Y-Combinator Demo Day (!) – I may or may not have taken more than a few breaks (NOT read: procrastinated) from writing to cold call customers back in South Africa late at night / morning in SA. Fear not: by God’s grace, we both got distinctions, but that’s a sideshow – Andrew, I mean Dr Barnes, was completing his PhD alongside his Master’s.
At the time, there was a tradition at Oxford of post-exam “trashing”. This is where immediately after your final submission or exams your friends meet you outside the Exam School and cover you in all sorts of things to celebrate - link in comments if you want to see. Being good friends, we didn’t want Andrew to miss the experience so we surprised him. Being far from the shire, I had to improvise but I don’t think we did too bad. Shout out to Chris Hood for capturing it, as always being 10 steps ahead, he was safely out of the firing line.
I believe building a business is one of the most fulfilling activities there is, and doing so in a team of rock stars is a blessing. But when that also means doing so with friends – now that is an honour and a privilege, and I am grateful to my partners at Go1. It has been nearly two years since I have had an active day-to-day role in Go1, but seeing Andrew and Chris Eigeland tag-team as co-CEOs and take the business to new heights has been a highlight reel. Go1 is now entering a new era of maturity and growth, this week the baton is being passed onto Chris who will run Go1 as sole CEO.
AB, I know you aren’t going far but thank you for your leadership over the last decade as our founding CEO. CE, congratulations again! I am both excited and confident in your leadership in this next part of Go1's journey towards upskilling 1 billion learners.
Vu Tran said it aptly: it is like watching Yohan Blake handover to Usain Bolt in the 4x100m relay in 2012.
Onwards and upwards!
