Kubik, a plastic upcycling firm, has closed its $5.2 million initial fundraising round with the acquisition of a $1.86 million seed extension.
Kubik co-founder and CEO Kidus Asfaw, who co-founded Kubik with Penda Marre in 2021 confirmed the funding in a press release on Monday.
African Renaissance Partners, an East African venture capital business; Endgame Capital, an investor with a preference for climate change technology; and King Philanthropies, an investor in climate change and extreme poverty, are the latest investors in the startup as per the release.
The recycling firm aims to upcycle plastic into economically viable, long-lasting, and low-carbon construction materials through the use of unique technology.
To accelerate growth throughout Africa and around the world, CEO Asfaw claims they would license out this exclusive technology. To address issues facing cities, Asfaw’s team is working to create a genuinely circular business model.
With the help of the new funds, Kubik will be able to increase its production capacity, hire more people, penetrate more markets in Ethiopia, improve its waste tracking and environmental impact technology, and give more authority to female waste collectors.
Kubik’s goal of promoting sustainable growth and significantly improving communities throughout Africa is in line with these strategic strategies.
“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.
We earlier reported that Madica, an African structured investment programme targeting pre-seed stage entrepreneurs, revealed its plans to invest in up to 10 ventures by the end of the year, ramping up its funding efforts after closing three initial deals.