In 2018, Founders Factory Africa (FFA) launched with ambitious goals: to build early-stage startups across Africa and connect them with corporate giants like Standard Bank and Johnson & Johnson. Founded by Roo Rogers, Alina Truhina and Sam Sturm, the firm’s model was backed by corporate and impact investment partners.

By 2024, rebranded as 54 Collective (a nod to Africa’s 54 nations), it had become the continent’s most active investor, backing over 70 companies, including Uganda’s Asaak and Kenya’s BuuPass, and creating 17,000+ jobs.

Its hybrid model combined venture capital (up to USD 250 K equity funding to early-stage startups) with hands-on studio support, including product development, HR, and growth coaching for founders.

Then it ran into trouble. News of its split with funder Mastercard Foundation and consequent termination of operations rocked Africa’s tech landscape earlier this year. However, the split, initially attributed to strategy differences, has now been linked to financial implosion triggered by an unapproved USD 689 K rebranding campaign and a failed legal gambit to seize remaining grant funds, according to explosive court documents seen by WT.

A July 4th South African High Court judgment details how 54 Collective spent restricted charitable grant money on its high-profile 2024 rebrand, then attempted to place itself under bankruptcy protection to avoid repaying the funds. The move backfired, resulting in the court-ordered liquidation of its operating entity, Africa Founders Ventures (AFV).

A union gone sour

In mid-2024, 54 Collective unveiled its new identity with sleek logos, polished messaging, and a pan-African vision. Behind the scenes, it funded this overhaul with money from a USD 106.5 M grant given by the Mastercard Foundation exclusively for supporting small businesses and youth jobs.

This violated explicit terms restricting funds solely to SME support and youth employment programs, the court found.

Mastercard Foundation’s Executive Director Daniel Hailu sounded alarms internally, noting the rebrand blurred lines between AFV’s charitable work and its for-profit sibling entity, run by the same leadership team.

“The rebranding is being used for the benefit of third parties,” Hailu stated in correspondence cited by the court, warning it risked the Foundation’s regulatory standing by associating its charitable programs with commercial ventures.

“If the new branding becomes linked to our charitable programs, reputational damage could linger.”



When Mastercard terminated the grant in January 2025 after 54 Collective admitted fault, the crisis escalated.

Auditors uncovered financial red flags: over 2,000 last-minute account entries scrambled its 2023–2024 financial records, unreconciled grant income discrepancies, and a USD 4.59 M transfer to FFA, the for-profit entity that shares leadership with AFV. Audited financial statements were missing entirely, court papers say.

A representative from 54 Collective did not immediately respond to a request for comments. A former employee expressed disappointment and blamed the 54 Collective leadership for “arrogance, complacency, and incompetence,” adding, “they took the relationship for granted.”

Judgment Day

With the grant withdrawn and Mastercard demanding repayment of the USD 689 K rebrand cost and return of USD 6.1 M in unused funds, 54 Collective’s leadership, led by CEO Bongani Sithole, made a curious move. Days before the grant partnership expired on April 30, 2025, they placed AFV into “business rescue,” South Africa’s equivalent of bankruptcy protection.

The move, Judge Johann Gautschi ruled, was a calculated manoeuvre to block Mastercard’s claims to the USD 6.1 M cash reserve, use those funds to pay employee severance and administrator fees, and avoid returning the money and scrutiny of the financial irregularities uncovered by Deloitte.

It backfired. Judge Gautschi ruled the manoeuvre illegal. AFV had hidden its financial distress and failed to notify Mastercard, a key creditor. Business rescue practitioner Barry Urban then tried to suspend Mastercard’s rights via a legal technicality.

“Blatant disregard for the law,” the judge declared, ordering AFV’s liquidation.

Judge Gautschi’s ruling was scathing. He declared the business rescue a “nullity” and evidence of “mala fide conduct” (bad faith). AFV was ordered into provisional liquidation. Critically, Urban was held personally liable for Mastercard’s legal costs.

All remaining assets (~USD 6.1 M) were frozen pending the outcome of international arbitration in Toronto, where Mastercard will pursue full recovery of the misused rebrand funds and the unused grant balance.

Fallout

54 Collective’s tech, HR, and growth teams were disbanded while 40+ portfolio startups lost critical studio support overnight. Moreover, African startup investment remains strained, and there are fears that this high-profile governance failure risks further chilling impact investment.

Meanwhile, 54 Collective’s separate USD 40 M venture fund, UAF1, survives the liquidation but operates under a shadow. The venture studio model it championed lies in ruins, and the Mastercard Foundation’s pursuit of millions via arbitration ensures the financial and legal fallout is far from over.

A rebrand meant to symbolise pan-African reach and renewal instead became the catalyst for what the law has interpreted as financial mismanagement, a failed cover-up, and the court-ordered dismantling of one of the continent’s most prominent startup enablers.