Kubik, the pioneering African sustainable tech startup, announces its successful $5.2 million seed funding round. The seed round makes Kubik the first Ethiopian company to raise a multi-million dollar investment in climate and sustainability solutions.
Investors in the round include leading East African venture capital firm African Renaissance Partners; net-zero focused; Endgame Capital, investor in technologies addressing climate change; and climate and extreme poverty investor King Philanthropies.
Kubik is an environmental technology company using plastic waste to make low-carbon, durable, and affordable buildings, removing plastic waste from the environment and promoting greener, cleaner development across Africa. Kubik’s products cost at least 40% less per square metre than traditional cement-based development, and their low-carbon qualities yield 5x less greenhouse gas emissions.
As Kubik pursues its pan-African growth strategy, the proceeds will be used to scale production; grow its team and market presence in Ethiopia; strengthen its technology to trace waste and track environmental impact; and deepen its reach to empower female waste collectors.
The latest fund raise follows an exciting growth period for Kubik during which it has launched a new plastic upcycling factory in Ethiopia’s state-of-the-art Adama Industrial Park, Ethiopia; begun to source plastic at scale in collaboration with the City of Addis Ababa and various social enterprises in the waste management sector; and secured several stellar clients including Pharo Ventures and Cornerstone Development Group. Kubik was also honoured as the ‘Global Startup of the Year’ at the 2023 Global Startup Awards and ‘Africa’s leading ClimateTech startup’ at VivaTech, the annual technology conference.
Market drivers for Kubik’s investment case are compelling. Affordable housing is a $2.2 trillion global business in its own right, with a deficit of over 300 million units considered affordable to the most poor. With 40%+ of cost in housing development attributable to materials, Kubik’s business model of turning hard-to-recycle plastic waste into affordable building materials is ideally positioned.
Kubik has also sent waves around businesses taking initiative to be responsible for their plastic waste. Through its “Net Zero Plastic” programmes, pledges from the hospitality and services industry have come to partner with Kubik and curb their waste into Kubik products. Kubik sees massive potential in Africa’s most rapidly urbanizing countries and is receiving significant inbound enquiries from new potential markets.
Kidus Asfaw, Co-founder and CEO of Kubik, said: “We are thrilled to close our $5.2 million seed funding round and welcome our stellar new investors. They have seen Kubik’s compelling market opportunity, our delivery against our strategy to date, and share our purpose-driven vision – to build sustainably and affordably to a brighter, greener future.
“Today’s fund raise will allow us to keep up with the escalating demand we’re experiencing, scale our operations further with enhanced technology, empower more female waste collectors and turbo-charge our pan-African growth ambitions. We look forward to the future with great confidence.”
Magdi Amin, Managing Partner at African Renaissance Partners, commented: “Urbanization creates enough plastic waste to cover a football field every minute. Kubik helps solve this problem, while delivering a product that lowers costs for home builders. African Renaissance Partners is proud to back Kubik expand its operations and demonstrate that solving major challenges is good business.”
Jinna Li and John Mairlot, partners at Endgame Capital, said: ‘’We are extremely excited to be supporting Kubik in the next phase of its growth. Led by an outstanding team, the technology the company is developing is enabling more affordable and better housing conditions for millions of people. From a climate perspective, cement is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Finding an alternative that is not only more sustainable but also significantly cheaper is an outstanding achievement.’’
Kartick Kumar, Managing Director at King Philanthropies, commented: “Kubik’s vision to build safe and affordable living for all speaks directly to King Philanthropies’ mission to catalyze solutions at the intersection of climate and livelihoods. Kubik is at the forefront of innovation in Ethiopia and across the African market, and we’re proud to support the tremendous impact they’re making combatting plastic waste and providing safe, durable, and affordable housing.”
Bethel Tsegaye, Managing Director, Pharo Ventures, Ethiopia, said: “Pharo Ventures Ethiopia is pleased to collaborate with Kubik, our construction partner specializing in the recycling plastic waste into sustainable building blocks. Currently, Kubik is providing eco-friendly building blocks for the construction of our specialty oils processing facility. This partnership exemplifies our dedication to launching ventures that positively impact communities and promote environmental stewardship. We anticipate furthering our collaboration through additional projects that contribute substantially to societal and environmental well-being.”
