Guy Willner

Prior to joining Helios in December 2022, he was Chairman of IXAfrica, a hyperscale data center operator he founded in 2018 in Kenya. Previously, Guy invested in and joined the board of directors of Teraco Data Environments (South Africa) in 2008 and remained as a shareholder and board member until 2014 when the company was sold to Permira. He also founded IXEurope in 1998, which was subsequently listed on London’s AIM market in 2006 and that same year received the Queen’s Award for International Trade in recognition of its notable growth. In 2007, IXEurope was purchased by Equinix and Guy remained as President of Equinix’s European sector through June 2008. Guy holds a BSc (Hons) in Engineering from Oxford Brookes University. He is a British national.

Guy brings 30 years of experience in the global digital infrastructure industry, having built and operated some of the world’s first data centers. He is now helping Helios focus on digital infrastructure projects across Africa and their approach to AI. He loves working at Helios because of its extremely talented team with a great mix of personalities and a clear focus on deal-making. He has been working on bringing digital infrastructure to emerging markets since 2008 and loves to see the real impact it has on each country he builds in.

Outside of work, Guy plays the double bass, ran his first marathon in 2024, enjoys skiing, and loves driving classic cars when he is not underneath repairing them.