MADE IN AFRICA

Entrepreneur Roo Rogers and designer Peter Mabeo on creating an of-its-place home for the Johannesburg arm of start-up accelerator Founders Factory

- Nick Compton

Roo Rogers had a problem, an unusual disturbance in team cohesion. A problem that, given everything else he has to contend with, he could have well done without.

Rogers is the son of architectural nobility, Richard Rogers and River Café founder Ruth Rogers. Tacking away from his bohemian upbringing, he has pursued a career in technology, serial entrepreneurship, social enterprise, and now acceleration and incubation. He was a partner in Yves Béhar’s Fuseproject, founded five successful start-ups, including a film production company and eco-friendly car service in New York, and established the Spring accelerator that has helped grow business across Africa and Asia.

Last year he launched an African offshoot of the UK-based start-up accelerator Founders Factory. Rogers and his team are committed to birthing and backing 140 new tech-based start-ups across Africa over the next five years. Founders Factory’s USP is its reliance on blue-chip corporate investment rather than funding from VCs and other smaller speculators. And tapping the corporate well in Africa means being in Johannesburg, the city where many of the international giants have established beachhead HQs.

Rogers wants to provide hothouse conditions for his new businesses, drawn from across Africa. ‘We have a makers lab. We have technicians, designers, engineers, who can rapid-prototype ideas. And then we have space for the incubator. And we have space for all the other support people.’