Launched in 2018 and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, we’re a unique bunch of creative builders, designers, entrepreneurs and mentors, who bring a wealth of knowledge and years of experience to the founders and teams we work with.
Founders Factory has a heart for Africa. We are proud to be a part of its complex and flourishing fabric, and we are humbled by its history of individual and collective progress. Locally grounded and globally connected, we’re becoming the go-to innovation partner for startups, investors, governments, and corporates — throughout Africa and beyond.
A message from our founder
I was introduced to the intricacies of business in Africa in 1995, when I started working in Mankien, South Sudan. And it changed my life forever. From then on, I knew that I would always want to work in, and learn from, Africa. And I realised that no matter what, here I will always be a humble guest. It is this humility that drives my hunger to learn and create and build, and it is the principle that guides how we work at Founders Factory Africa.
Africa needs to support its growing startup ecosystem by enabling more entrepreneurs to succeed. I don’t believe that Founders Factory Africa is a revolution or a panacea. We’re not here because Africa needs to import talent or ideas, and we’re not needed to cultivate innovation or ambition. We’re here because we’re inspired by the unlimited and uninhibited creativity, leadership, and spirit of African entrepreneurs.
Our mission is to fuel their success.
- Roo Rogers, CEO
World-class thinkers, makers, and entrepreneurs
We’re local, with our offices in downtown Johannesburg serving as a hub for our community and our first line of research. We believe that creativity can come from anyone, and that they have to be given space to fail and take risks in order to succeed.
Our senior leadership has worked extensively with entrepreneurs across Africa and South Asia. Before establishing FFA, they grew over 75 startups to a portfolio value of $120mm.
The majority of our team are African, complemented by key members from all over the world. Wherever we’re from, we share the same ambition — to create something radically different and incredibly successful. We believe the future is here, in African soil, and we’re proud to help it grow.
Innovative technology is thriving in Africa
The continent is blazing bright with opportunity. The creativity and agility offered by startups making it possible to reach previously excluded or underserved communities, creating accelerated access to new products and services through technology all while opening up new markets and commercial opportunities. Their ability to move fast, take risks, and truly ‘think outside the box’ benefits everyone — from governments and corporates to investors and end users — and the products, services, and knowledge developed locally are ready to be adapted for international adoption.
African entrepreneurs are the engines of growth, and we are here to fuel their momentum, helping them reach their full potential throughout the continent and across the globe.
Changing economies and dynamics
Emerging and frontier markets are not charity cases for Western markets to save — from demographics to culture, R&D and innovation to talent, Africa is a central hub for designing the future. In fact, rising talent and life-saving developments in technology are coming out of Africa to inspire and help the world. The size of Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy has more than quadrupled since 2000. We are here to support the startups driving this growth across the continent and beyond.
Designing for complexity and utility-wide scale
Designing and building businesses in Africa requires a more creative, strategic and innovative approach — we’re designing for complex markets where regulations are still in development, where informal markets make up the majority of the population, and where so many opportunities exist to create utility-scale impact and returns. In Africa, entrepreneurs are untethered by heavy infrastructure and interest lobbying, and are able to build transformative products and networks that have a nearly instant impact on real lives. This hyper-local approach to market opportunity is scaleable, locally and internationally.
Closing the gaps and creating new markets
Where governments and large business sectors failed to realise the opportunities, African startups are solving real human needs. This is why startups are the backbone of the innovation and technology boom in Africa. From health startups preventing disease outbreaks through rapid diagnostics, to fintech startups enabling access to financial markets — African entrepreneurs are driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution at scale. And more than that, Africa’s startups are starting to change the world outside of the continent too, transforming global supply chains and driving world-class research.