From founding South Africa’s first unicorn to mentoring a new generation of African founders

Some call Go1 "the Spotify of corporate education" or "Netflix of learning." Co-founded by Endeavor Entrepreneurs Melvyn Lubega, Andrew Barnes, and two others back in 2015, it is a South African company they all thought up during their graduation at Oxford.

Go1 gives customers access to the world's largest curated learning library from any device (in 17 languages). Formats include video tutorials, classroom lectures, audiobooks, and structured assessments. The platform offers more than 100,000 learning resources from all kinds of providers, including Harvard Edu, EdX, Coursera, Thomson Reuters, Blinkist, and Wall Street Prep. Learning tracks, called playlists, bring together emotional and technical knowledge in a user-friendly interface.

In 2021, Go1 became the first South African tech scale-up valued at more than $1 billion.

Their Multiplier Effect

In 2017, Go1 was selected by Endeavor. “We were a lot smaller at the time, but we've always had ambition,” said Melvyn. “The Endeavor network has been a key part of both our African office and worldwide. As you build up an organization, you come across challenges while you’re alone at the top. That’s why this peer network is phenomenal.”

The founders faced many hurdles as they scaled, from managing contracts in different currencies to managing sales teams in different time zones. Endeavor’s network was key to connecting them with locals in different geographies.

Melvyn is a board member of Endeavor South Africa and was recently awarded Endeavor's most prestigious accolade, the Linda award, for paying it forward and setting an example for other high-impact entrepreneurs.

Melvyn and Andrew have mentored three dozen other founders, invested in a dozen more businesses directly, and have inspired 16 employees to become entrepreneurs, so far.