Ethiopia’s Kubik raises $1.9m seed extension to scale its plastic waste upcycling operations

Ethiopian plastic waste upcycling startup, Kubik has raised a fresh $1.9 million in a seed extension round. This is coming just months after the startup announced an initial equity investment. 

The seed extension round was led by an East African venture company, African Renaissance Partners, and saw participation from Endgame Capital, an investor with a bias for technologies around climate change; and King Philanthropies, a climate and extreme poverty investor.

The Addis Ababa-based startup said the latest round of funding would be deployed into scaling its plastic upcycling business in Ethiopia following the launch of its factory. Speaking about this, Co-founder and CEO, Kidus Asfaw, said that the startup intends to double down on its operations in Addis Ababa, as it lays the ground for pan-African growth from 2025.

How Kubik is converting plastic waste into building materials

It is estimated that the world produces 430 million tonnes of plastic a year. This has since created a global plastic waste pollution that is calling for urgent attention as it is already affecting the ecosystem including marine ecology. Consumerism in developed countries, as well as emerging economies around the world in Africa, means the plastic waste problem isn’t going away anytime soon. The world is in desperate need of sustainable solutions and this is where a startup like Kubik comes in.

Founded in 2021 by Kidus Asfaw and Penda Marre, Kubik is recycling plastic waste, and converting them into building materials. Thus, it is turning plastic waste into products like interlocking building materials like bricks, columns, beams and jambs. The startup hopes that one day its approach to plastic waste recycling will become the global standard.

Using proprietary technology, the recycling startup is looking to upcycle plastic into low-carbon, durable, and affordable building materials. CEO Asfaw says they will license out this proprietary technology for faster pan-African and global growth. Asfaw emphasized that what his team wants to do is solve problems for cities and so, they are trying to develop a business model that is truly circular. 

“The way we’ve set up our business strategy is that now we’re in the focus phase of proving this model here in Ethiopia. We’ll expand it to a few more markets to prove the diversity of the context in which this business model can work. But over time, what we actually want to do is transition to becoming a company that’s licensing out this technology That’s how we feel that we can truly scale. It’s not by having factories all over the world, but having this industry adopt a new way of making materials globally,” the CEO said.

The startup says it currently recycles 5,000 kilograms of plastic waste a day although it has the capacity to recycle up to 45,000 kilograms a day. It also said it has signed partnerships with corporate organisations in Ethiopia as well as the Addis Ababa municipality for a regular supply of plastic waste. It is also looking at diversifying its products to include other building materials like pavers and flooring material.

Speaking about the quality of the building material it produces, the Kubik CEO said their product allows developers to erect walls without the need for cement, aggregates or steel. This, he claims, makes the construction faster. He also claims that Kubik’s solutions bring the cost of building down by at least 40 per cent less per square meter, thus presenting a better option for developers of affordable housing projects.

The CEO also guaranteed that the building materials have passed safety tests by the European standards agency, Intertek. The agency checked, among other things, strength, toxicity and flammability.

“We don’t want to be selling something that’s harmful for human beings. We did not start sales until these reports were available,” Asfaw said.

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