Margret O’Connor

Margaret brings 30 years of global experience as an institutional and angel investor, technology entrepreneur, M&A strategist, MasterCard International executive, public policy manager, and innovation ecosystem builder.

Her portfolio career includes:

• Chairman of Launch Africa, an institutional Venture Capital fund that has invested in 180 companies across 25 African markets and 3 GCC markets in 15 tech verticals. Pioneer of secondary exits on the continent. 7% DPI in Year 6 on Vintage 2020 Seed Fund 1. She led Egypt-Sub-Sahara bridge building in early 2020s.

• Non-Executive Director and RemCom Chair of a FTSE 250 investment trust (LON: CHRY) that backs UK/EU fintechs such as Starling, Klarna, SMART and Wise on their private-IPO transition. Visa acquired Featurespace a developer of real-time AI payments from Chrysalis last year.

• Investment Committee of a pan-African gender lens fund, Five35 Ventures. Mastercard Foundation is anchor investor.

• London Business School Private Equity MasterClass guest lecturer

• Director of Autonomi Capital, an advisory firm the provides high quality independent advice to the energy, infrastructure, and resources sectors in Africa.

Margaret moved to the UAE to help GCC and Africa fintechs architect their global expansion, accelerate M&A; and support government’s visionary plans for digital assets.

Between 2003-2020, Margaret lived in Johannesburg and worked across the Big 4 African tech markets, advising listed financial institutions on digital transformation strategies, the establishment of Corporate Venture Capital vehicles, and connected them to fintech startups to support product and process innovation. She also served as a mentor to Endeavor Africa finechs such as Entesekt and agritech, Aerobotics, on their Africa, APAC, the UK, and US growth strategies. She also freelanced for The FT—the world’s global business newspaper.

Margaret’s tech operating experience as a New York-based, Silicon Valley VC-funded entrepreneur who grew a B2B tech company globally before a successful trade sale, and as founding member of the MasterCard Asia Pacific team in Singapore and Global New Technology team in New York informs her investor and advisor roles today. She spends considerable time every year in Cairo, Cape Town, London, Berlin, Zurich, and New York engaging with stakeholders and shareholders. She’s an active member of the Private Equity Women Investor Network.

A sought-after speaker, panel moderator, and workshop leader, Margaret’s recent thought leadership activities have included:

• Money 20/20 Middle East, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

• GITEX in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

• Milken Middle East & Africa Summit, Abu Dhabi, UAE

• Counder, Cape Town, South Africa

• AFSIC, London, UK

• Super Return Africa in Cape Town, South Africa

• Super Return Emerging Markets in Amsterdam, Netherlands

• African Venture Capital Association in Cairo, Egypt

• HTG Investor Spotlight in Berlin, Germany

• London Business School Private Equity MasterClass in the United Kingdom

Margaret earned her BA from Rutgers University and studied International Relations at Princeton University before moving to Seoul, Korea to work for the Korean Ministry of Finance. She is married and has two GenZ children currently living in the United Kingdom.