Justin Mullen, a native of Newry, was a pioneer in the software industry for over 30 years until his untimely passing on December 6 at the age of 54.
Combining a friendly, down-to-earth personality with deep expertise, he built and sold multiple successful companies over the years.
Justin worked with major American, UK and European corporations, making deals worth over £200 million, and, at its peak, employing 80 people around the world.
The son of Jerome Mullen, Honorary Consul of Poland in Northern Ireland, and Margaret Mullen of Warrenpoint, Justin attended St Peter’s PS, Cloughrea and St Colman’s College, Newry before studying computer science at the University of Portsmouth.
He volunteered at a local tech company, which soon recognised his potential and hired him full-time. He gained valuable early experience but also showed the leadership qualities that were to mark him out.
Throughout his career, his self-confidence and charm stood to him, enabling him to inspire teams, secure partnerships and drive innovation.
Justin took up contracting assignments, building experience with some of the biggest public and private companies in the UK.
In 1998, he founded his first IT firm, SMI Solutions, followed later by Corviz, which distributed Nimbass software solutions.
He brought over a top IT professional from South Africa, who became a partner and established a new company, K2 Workflow, to distribute their highly successful software to corporate and enterprise markets throughout the UK and Europe. The company was acquired in 2005.
Over the years Justin founded several other companies, including Datalytics, and each venture achieved significant success.
Justin’s new company, DataOps.live, developed the software to manage the full life cycle of data applications on the Snowflake platform.
He and his partner Guy Adams brought major venture capital investment into the business, which led to a ground-breaking partnership with Snowflake Inc, a multi-billion-dollar cloud storage company in California.
Justin was highly skilled in understanding organisations, their data operations, and, most importantly, the challenges facing senior management and board-level leaders. This ability allowed him to bridge the gap between technical solutions and strategic business goals.
Justin met his wife, Oksana, a Ukrainian national, in London. They initially lived in Bulgaria, where they got married in 2007, before settling in Kingston upon Thames and later Cobham, Surrey, with their two children, Francheska and Izabella.
Known for his generosity, Justin welcomed Oksana’s family into their home during the recent war in Ukraine, a time marked by tragedy when Oksana’s mother passed away during their escape in March 2022.
Justin was a great leader, full of energy and enthusiasm, and was highly regarded for his expertise.
His infectious optimism, hearty laugh, and uplifting personality touched everyone he met. His approach to life and business was straightforward: “Know your product, and know your customer.”
Balancing meticulous attention to detail with a love for life, he became the heart and soul of every gathering.
Sadly, cancer intervened during one of the most significant developments of his career. Despite the challenges, he remained deeply involved in his business and family until his passing. He leaves behind a huge legacy of opportunity and innovation.
A funeral service and cremation was held in Surrey in December and on Saturday February 1, a memorial Mass and celebration of his life will be held at noon in St Peter’s Church, Warrenpoint, and afterwards in the Whistledown Hotel.
Justin is survived and deeply mourned by his wife and daughters, parents, brother Paul, sister Colette and her husband Ian and their children.
Peter Makem