Tech

Ethiopian low-carbon startup Kubik gets $5.2m for its pan-African expansion project

Published

8 months ago

May 10, 2024

Ethiopia’s low-carbon building startup, Kubik, has announced raising the sum of $5.2 million in seed funding which will enable it carry out its pan-African expansion drive.

Co-founder and CEO of the startup, Kidus Asfaw, who made the announcement, said the expansion plans will allow the company which specialises in the transformation of hard-to-recycle plastic waste into affordable, low-carbon building materials, take its offering to a larger market.

“We turn hard-to-recycle plastic waste into low-carbon, low-cost building materials. Our initial product set includes an interlocking set of bricks, columns and beams that make walls. Our aim is to build clean and affordable living for all,” Asfaw said.

“Our product costs close to 40 per cent less per square metre than traditional cement-based development, is two or three times faster to build with, and requires low-skill labour to build with,” said Asfaw.

“We are seeing growth in sales and continue to find opportunities to use our products in different contexts.

“The uptake so far has been very good, with a clear demand for our solution. We are now focused on increasing production capacity to keep up with demand.”

Asfaw said the plan was to expand into strategic markets in Africa next year and so far, things have already been going well for the startup.

The funding round, he said, follows an exciting growth period for Kubik, during which, among other things, it has launched a new plastic upcycling factory in Ethiopia’s state-of-the-art Adama Industrial Park, and secured several stellar clients including Pharo Ventures and Cornerstone Development Group.

Founded in 2021 by Asfaw and Penda Marre, Kubik produces low-carbon, affordable building materials from plastic waste to tackle Africa’s housing and waste crises.

Kubik recently raised a US$5.2 million seed funding round to help scale operations, making it the first Ethiopian company to raise a multi-million-dollar investment in climate and sustainability solutions. Investors in the round include African Renaissance Partners, Endgame Capital, and King Philanthropies, and the startup will use the funding to help it pursue its pan-African growth strategy

Kubik, whose clients are real estate developers and contractors that have active projects in affordable housing, public infrastructure, and commercial buildings, is addressing the costliness, variable quality, and lack of speed builders currently face using regular cement.

Related Topics:Expansion Featured Funding Kubik Startup

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Tech

Facebook returns to Uganda after 4-year ban

Published

2 days ago

December 24, 2024

Isaac Dachen

After four years of being in the cooler as a result of suspension by government, Facebook, now Meta, is making a return to Uganda after prolonged negotiations saw the Ugandan government reverse the ban it placed on the platform since 2021.

The suspension of the social media platform had stemmed from accusations by the government that Facebook was meddling in the country’s political affairs during the 2021 presidential elections which arose after it deleted government-affiliated accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation.

This ban of Facebook has led to widespread disruptions across the nation, affecting not only political discourse but also personal connections and business operations.

But according to reports, with a potential re-launch on the horizon for December 2024, Facebook’s comeback could be a game-changer with approximately 2.5 million Ugandans poised to reconnect on the platform, while the Uganda Revenue Authority stands to gain financially from its revival just as businesses, especially smaller enterprises, stand to benefit from advertising incomes.

Tech

20 African tech-preneurs embark on Korean innovation tour

Published

4 days ago

December 22, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The African Development Bank Group’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab has selected 20 promising tech entrepreneurs from various African technology ventures and enterprise support organisations to embark on a two-week study tour of the Republic of Korea, with the aim of seeking investment and insights from the country’s innovative tech ecosystem.

The selected entrepreneurs are from 133 ventures that participated in last month’s Africa Tech Startup Forum.

The forum which will hold under the auspices of the lab’s “Leveraging the Entrepreneurial and Innovation Success of Korea to Strengthen African Enterprise Support” project, had selected entrepreneurs who pitched the best business models during the week-long virtual market access and acceleration programme preparing, training, and connecting technology ventures with opportunities.

The 20 young tech-preneurs were selected from eight African countries including Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda, with the delegates spanning various sectors in the technology space.

While in Korea, the African delegates will pay visits to prestigious institutions such as Global Startup Centre, LG Science Park, the Korea Software Technology Association, and the Global Digital Innovation Network.

Speaking on behalf of the delegates, founder of Kenya-based health technology venture Zuri Health, Uche Ezadinachi said:

“I am excited to go to Korea because the country has made serious technological developments. The country is a technology-driven society, and this tour is an opportunity for me to see how we can bring such technology to Africa.

“We will share experiences with our Korean counterparts; they will learn from us as much as we learn from them,” he added.