Ethiopian low-carbon construction startup Kubik plans pan-African expansion after funding

Ethiopia’s Kubik, which specializes in transforming hard-to-recycle plastic waste into affordable, low-carbon building materials, plans to expand to more African countries next year after recently racking up $5.2 million in funding initial.

Founded in August 2021 by Kidus Asfaw and Penda Marre, kubik produces affordable, low-carbon building materials from plastic waste to address housing and waste crises in Africa. Its products cost at least 40 percent less per square meter than traditional cement-based development, and its low-carbon qualities produce five times fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

“We convert difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into low-cost, low-carbon construction materials. Our initial product set includes an interlocking set of bricks, columns and beams that form walls. Our goal is to build a clean and affordable life for all,” Asfaw told Disrupt Africa.

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

“Our product costs about 40 percent less per square meter than traditional cement-based development, is two to three times faster to build and requires low-skilled labor to build,” Asfaw said.

kubik recently raised $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 funds to help it implement its pan-African growth strategy.

Asfaw said the plan was to expand into strategic markets in Africa next year. Things have already gone well. The funding round follows an exciting period of growth for Kubik, during which it, among other things, launched a new plastic recycling factory in Ethiopia’s cutting-edge Adama Industrial Park and landed several star clients, including Pharo Ventures and Cornerstone Development . Cluster.

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

“Acceptance so far has been very good, with clear demand for our solution. “We are now focused on increasing production capacity to meet demand.”

In fact, affordable housing is a $2.2 trillion global business, with a shortfall of more than 300 million units considered affordable for the poorest. Given that more than 40 percent of the cost in housing development is attributable to materials, Kubik’s business model of converting hard-to-recycle plastic waste into affordable building materials is potentially ideally positioned.

Kubik monetizes through direct sales of its product, but Asfaw said being a hardware-focused company initially meant raising funds to scale was a challenge.

“However, we were fortunate to have sponsors who believed in us and our mission, allowing us to establish our production facilities,” he said.