Hlumelo Biko

Hlumelo Biko (born January 1978, in King William's Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa) is a South African businessman and investment banker. He is the son of Steve Biko and Mamphela Ramphele. Ramphele was five months pregnant with him when she learned that Steve Biko, with whom she was having an affair, had been killed in police custody. She named him Hlumelo because it means "the shoot of a tree" in the Xhosa language.^[1]

Biko holds a B.A. in History and Politics from the University of Cape Town, and a Masters of Science in International Business Government Relationships from Georgetown University.^[2] He worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C. in 1998.

Biko and Ramphele co-founded Circle Capital, an investment company, in 2005.^[3] Biko was the CEO of Circle Capital.^[4] In 2008, Bespoke Magazine called him "the driving force behind a multi-million Rand black empowerment company...one of South Africa's most intriguing empowerment vehicles."^[2]

Hlumelo Biko is an Executive Chairman of a growth capital oriented investment firm called Spinnaker Growth Partners. Prior to this Hlumelo ran a successful venture capital company called Circle Capital Ventures, which invested R100m over 8 years in 8 deals, generating a return of R1.6 billion of both realised and unrealised gains net of costs.

In parallel with a successful 13-year career as a venture capitalist, he is also a dedicated philanthropist, currently serving as vice-chairman of the Baxter Theatre, supporting budding small and medium enterprises as a board member of Endeavor offering mentorship and advice to a number of high impact South African entrepreneurs, and supporting increased access to education through institutions like Kommunity Group Projects, the University of Cape Town and African Schools for Excellence.

References