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.

Kenya’s e-commerce startup, tappi, has announced a strategic partnership with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), to launch digital services for MSMEs in the country.

Co-founder and CEO of tappi, Kenfield Griffith, who announced the signing of the announced the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the KNCCI, the collaboration will see the launching of a Sukuma Biz initiative which will enable tappi to deliver a unique package of digital services specifically geared towards bolstering online credibility and identity for the KNCCI’s 30,000 business members.

“KNCCI is one of Kenya’s most trusted industry bodies and with its extensive network of local businesses, they’re an ideal partner to accelerate our mission of empowering MSMEs to effectively establish strong reputations of their own in an online setting,” said Griffith.

“In order for this initiative to be successful, it was vital we worked alongside a partner with not only a strong, in-depth understanding of the most critical pain points Kenyan businesses face, but also the demographics which are most heavily affected by them.

“With this in mind, we’re incredibly proud to be joined by KNCCI on what we believe is not only a crucial step for MSMEs, but specifically women-led businesses, in equipping them with the digital tools to significantly drive Kenya’s economy forward,” he added.

Founded in 2022 by Griffith and Louis Majanja, tappi is an end-to-end digital commerce SaaS solution tailored for MSMEs, which allows business owners to download its app, add their “look and feel”, and promote their business through a three-step process that goes to Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Instagram Ads using airtime credit or mobile money.

Also speaking on the partnership, Majanja said tappi has been on a “rapid growth journey capturing verified reviews on over US$3 million consumer transactions and engaging with over 150,000 consumers.”

He added that the startup had raised $1.5 million in December of 2023 through an oversubscribed pre-seed round of funding, and it recently made Ivory Coast its third market, having already moved into Nigeria.

“For a monthly fee of KES500, KNCCI members will receive their own business landing page on tappi’s platform featuring a KNCCI logo as well as access to 50 customer reviews via SMS, WhatsApp or additional channels, which will be integrated to their landing page.

“Members will also be able to send 250 text marketing messages directly to their customers.

“Leveraging tappi’s SaaS and enterprise-grade solutions, all KNCCI members will be able to generate SEO-optimised websites in less than two minutes based on eight simple questions devised by an intuitive chat tool,” he added.