Ethiopia’s Kubik raised $5.2 M Seed funding to scale low-carbon building tech
Ethiopia’s Kubik, a company that specializes in turning difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into reasonably priced, low-carbon building materials, has raised US $5.2 million in seed money to support business expansion.
To address Africa’s housing and waste crises, Kidus Asfaw and Penda Marre founded Kubik in 2021. The company uses plastic waste to produce low-carbon, reasonably priced building materials. Its low-carbon characteristics result in five times fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and its products cost at least 40% less per square meter than conventional cement-based development.
The company has secured a US $5.2 million seed round to support its pan-African expansion plan. The money will be utilized to increase production, expand its workforce and market presence in Ethiopia, improve its waste tracking and environmental impact tracking technology, and broaden its outreach to empower female waste collectors.
African Renaissance Partners, Endgame Capital, and King Philanthropies are among the investors in the round. In addition to launching a new plastic upcycling factory in Ethiopia’s cutting-edge Adama Industrial Park, Kubik has had an exciting period of growth, with this round of funding coming after an earlier seed round raised the previous year. The company has also secured several notable clients, including Pharo Ventures and Cornerstone Development Group.
“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,” Asfaw said.
“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.”
