John Lazar is a co-founder and General Partner at Enza Capital, the pan-African venture firm he co-founded in 2019, where he is also a Limited Partner and an active member of the Investment Committee. He joined Metaswitch Networks as a software engineer in 1987, became its CEO in 2009 and its Chairman in 2015, and stepped down in 2016, four years before Microsoft acquired the company. 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. He chairs the Raspberry Pi Foundation, was elected President of the Royal Academy of Engineering in September 2024, received a CBE in 2016 and a knighthood in the 2025 New Year Honours.
Education
B.Sc. Computer Science, University of the Witwatersrand
M.Sc. Computation, University of Oxford
DPhil History, University of Oxford
Previous Experience
Software engineer, Metaswitch Networks
CEO, Metaswitch Networks
Chairman, Metaswitch Networks
Notable Investments
Copia Globalwhat3wordsKindLink
Board Seats
Raspberry Pi Foundation
Career Timeline
1987
Joined Metaswitch Networks as a software engineer.
2009
Became CEO of Metaswitch Networks.
2016
Stepped down from Metaswitch Networks and was awarded a CBE for services to engineering in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.
2019
Co-founded Enza Capital, a pan-African venture capital firm.
2023
Joined the board of Kenyan e-commerce and fintech platform Copia Global alongside its $20 million Series C extension.
2024
Elected President of the Royal Academy of Engineering at its 48th AGM on 17 September.