African cities are growing at a rapid pace and so too are their environmental footprint. Kubik tackles some of the primary challenges cities face: waste, affordability, and climate change.

Kubik turns low-grade plastic waste into affordable low-carbon building materials, which will reduce plastic waste in the environment, create employment for waste collectors in the informal sector, and provide decent affordable building material.

In Ethiopia alone there is an unmet housing demand estimated at 1.2 million units, with 381,000 new housing units needed annually. While Kubik's product is not a new invention, the value proposition of the product is strong as real estate developers lack access to affordable building materials.

The co-founders, Kidus Asfaw and Penda Marre, met while employed at UNICEF, where they managed the deployment of more than 300 classrooms in Cöte d’Ivoire built from bricks made from plastic waste.

Our engagement

We invested in Kubik's seed round in 2023 and look forward to supporting the company to scale. 

Read more about Kubik here.