Driven by a desire to differentiate ourselves and our service HipZone has successfully managed to achieve our primary goal – make internet access free! Still limited to a number of coffee shops, hotels, restaurants, airports, campuses, but soon to extend well beyond this! Our primary landscape will include all territories where bandwidth is still unacceptably expensive – SA, Brazil, India, China, Russia.

As tax payers, in whatever country, we have the right to use the highways and byways, yet when it comes to our virtual highways we are expected to pay prices which prevent access to vast numbers of our population. This is wholly unacceptable to founders, directors and everyone who works at HipZone (Pty) Ltd. Our globally unique model not only provides free wi-fi, but does so in a model which allows brands to better understand their consumers, and consumers to get what they actually want.

Our business was born in Cape Town, and has spread its wings across the rest of SA, Southern Africa and most recently London – get it free at Vida e Caffe on Regent Street just off Piccadilly Circus, with more to come this year.

About Us

R.D Ingle - Founder & Managing Director
With over 17 years experience in African telecommunications, Roy is one of very few telecoms marketing experts with knowledge of over 20 African territories, and more impressively has worked across the full public spectrum including directing Alcatel Space's African communications satellites, traditional terrestrial solutions and GSM.

Roy, as a co-founder of hip, brings to the company his marketing, creative and inspirational guidance.

Dino Cooper - Co-Founder & CEO
Dino Cooper has 20 years of business experience, a dynamic, successful serial entrepreneur who has focused on IT and Internet business. Dino is founder and group managing director of www.viadex.com a UK based IT reseller. He reached the finals of the 2006 Ernst & Young, Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards recognizing the solid profitable growth within Viadex.

He is a founder investor and Executive Director of www.dbamsystems.com a UK based software company that accelerates and improves application performance over the internet.


Daniel Titton - Chief Technical Officer
Daniel has worked in the IT industry for 25 years. He has specialised in the implementation and management of IT systems, including the role of Infrastructure Director at SITA, Geneva where he was responsible for systems supporting clients and staff in 220 countries worldwide.

Daniel brings a wealth of experience in Development, Project Management, Risk Management, Planning, Operations and Solution Delivery to HipZone

Butch Rice - Master of the Universe (Chief Research Officer)
Butch is co-founder of TNS Research Surveys. He retired from his position of joint chairman of the company in 2000, and has spent his time as a consultant since then. Prior to retiring, he was also executive director of Adcorp, a JSE listed company, which received the Sunday Times award for the best performing company on the JSE in 1999.

Prior to co-founding Research Surveys, Butch was a lecturer at the University of Cape Town for ten years, lecturing in marketing research, statistics, and operations research.

His current research focus is on the irrationality of human decision making, with special emphasis on how human beings communicate. This research has special significance for the formulation of communication strategies by marketers.

Cherif (Rif) Riffat – CFO
Rif is a CA who qualified with KPMG, London in 1997 working within their ICE (Information Communication Entertainment) business division. He has more than 10 years of Corporate Finance experience representing various individual and corporate private equity investors. From 1999 to 2001, he headed Eidos Plc’s corporate development team, being responsible for liaising with analysts, investors and executing corporate acquisitions. Since 2001, he has been working as a consultant and board member to companies in the IT, property, mining and biotech industries in South Africa, Europe and the USA.

Mike Joubert – Non-Executive Director
Mike (B Com (Hons) MBA has spent the last 19 years working across a diverse range of brand related industries. He has built up extensive experience in various positions including strategy consultant with The Corporate Consulting Group, Marketing Development Director for Computicket, Strategic Marketing Director at Ogilvy & Mather RSTM, Marketing Director at Gilbeys (today Brandhouse), MD of Levi Strauss & Co in SA and Vice President: Marketing for Levi Strauss Europe, Middle East and Africa.

A recipient of the prestigious Sunday Times Marketing Excellence Award – “South African Marketing Person of the Year” - in 2006, Mike has been actively involved with corporate social responsibility and brand philanthropy programs for the last 25 years. He has been an Executive Trustee for 19 years and past Chairperson of Project Literacy and serves on many boards including The Levi Strauss Foundation based in San Francisco, and as CEO of BrandsRock (Pty) Ltd, a Strategic Brand Marketing company specializes in Consumer Insight, Brand Strategy and 360° marketing solutions.

Iain Banner - Non-Executive Director
Iain has probably one of the strongest roll-a-dex's on the planet. With strong sporting ties that have seen Iain co-found Sports International and the Gary Player Design Company, through to his role as Sponsorship Director Richemont International for 10 years, his relationships and brand experience is tough to match.

Together with Johann Rupert, Iain co-founded the Laureus World Sports Awards, Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland. Iain sits on numerous boards, most notably a Top 5 media company in India. As a property developer and entrepreneur, HipZone™ is extremely proud to have Iain on our board, and looks forward to a long and fruitful relationship.