Enterprise Hub Spring Showcase

Sir John Lazar CBE FREng

Sir John is a software engineer and entrepreneur with experience of building and managing successful global businesses. He is Chair of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, which aims to help young people realise their full potential through the power of computing and digital technologies. He is also co-founder, General Partner, and a Limited Partner at Enza Capital, which backs founders and teams using technology to solve large and meaningful problems across Africa. He sits on the boards of multiple African technology companies and previously served as the Chair of What3words. He was awarded a CBE for services to engineering in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2016 and was knighted for services to engineering and technology in the His Majesty The King’s New Year Honours List 2025. Sir John was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2011 and chaired the Academy’s Enterprise Committee, which supports startups and scaleups across the UK and globally through the Enterprise Hub. He has also been a member of the Academy’s Education and Skills Committee and played an active role in developing the programme of study for England’s school Computer Science curriculum. Sir John has also been a judge and mentor for the Academy’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, which trains and backs early-stage African engineering companies.  He has spent many years working on tech-related non-profit initiatives in Africa, especially building “digital blacksmiths” and maker labs. He has been an active angel investor and technology start-up mentor in the UK and Africa, with more than 40 individual pre-seed/seed investments. He graduated from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar with an MSc in Computation and a DPhil in History, following an undergraduate degree in Computer Science at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Sir John was elected as President of the Royal Academy of Engineering at its 48th AGM in 2024.

Dr Angie Ma

Angie co-founded Faculty: Europe’s leading applied AI firm and a world leader in AI safety and responsible AI deployment. Faculty transforms organisational performance through safe, impactful and human-first AI. As co-organiser of AI Fringe, 2023’s biggest tech event in the UK, she is passionate about bringing together industry, academia, civil society, the public and underrepresented communities to discuss responsible and practical adoption of AI. She mentors and advises various tech startups and charities. She is a trustee of the UK’s national cancer charity, which focuses on ovarian cancer. Her professional journey has taken an unconventional path - doing research in physics, studying law and founding another tech startup.