BESTSELLER is a foundation that makes impactful investments and charitable donations across 25 countries.

BESTSELLER

BESTSELLER Foundation is a private foundation, philanthropically funded by fashion group BESTSELLER.  As a for-profit impact investor, the foundation invests in businesses with positive social and environment impact, specifically targeting climate-tech ventures in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using a broad range of investment tools, the Foundation provides life-cycle support to our early-stage portfolio. 

Our work is made possible through the support of BESTSELLER, an international, family-owned fashion group.

BESTSELLER FOUNDATION

We’re proud to have doubled down on our partnership as Kubik, Inc. closed a seed extension round to establish a flagship factory and scale operations 🚀🤝
 
By turning plastic waste into affordable housing bricks, Kubik creates decent jobs for plastic waste collectors, ensures plastic waste don’t end up in landfill, and addresses Ethiopia’s need for affordable, sustainable housing. 

Kubik’s building materials are 40% cheaper than traditional materials and emit 85% less CO2. It’s a sustainable and affordable alternative for the African construction industry – from housing to clinics, warehouses, and much more. 

Don’t just take our word for it – Kubik has been globally recognised for its pioneering work in climate. In 2023, Kubik won Startup of the Year at the Global Startup Awards (GSA) and  Co-founder and CEO Kidus Asfaw was listed as TIME Magazine’s 100 most climate leaders in business in 2023🌟💪

#sustainablehousing #jobcreation #investment #portfolio #BESTSELLERFoundation

With the growing demand for tech skills, a world of opportunities awaits young techies and entrepreneurs to explore and conquer 🚀💡 

ALX works to ensure that everyone has the possibility to pursue ambitions, by creating access to world-class tech training to millions of people in Africa and the world.

Visiting one of the alx_africa hubs in Nairobi, it was amazing to feel the energy and optimism that has become the trademark of the now 33 hubs across the African continent. 

We proudly support ALX through our engagement with the global Sand Technologies brand – creating impact through AI. 

Spending time with students and founders, we heard pitches from young founders with solutions targeting food security, access to healthcare and urban infrastructure among others.

Thank you for inviting us in, alx_africa 

#innovation #techscene #entrepreneurship #BESTSELLERFoundation

Collecting and processing urban plastic waste on the African continent is the circular solution to tackling the millions of tons of plastic polluting the environment each year 🌍 

That's why we're proudly invested in Mr. Green Trading Africa Kenya Ltd., a pioneering waste management company headed by Keiran Smith. Their tech-enabled platform efficiently manages and aggregates plastic waste, transforming it into high-quality recycled plastic.

We recently toured the impressive new flagship factory in Nairobi, where Mr. Green’s scaling up production to meet global market demand.

The subsequent board meeting highlighted inspiring results:

✔ Over 3,000 waste pickers across Kenya & Uganda are empowered with jobs.
✔ 23,580 metric tons of plastic (1.179 billion bottles) have been diverted from the environment.
✔ Revenue has doubled in the past 12 months.
✔ Quality and pricing beats imported plastics.

Well done, team Mr. Green Africa 👏

How would you like to sit down with entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem leaders to exchange needs and leads? 🤝 

We love the idea! – so of course we headed to the Delta40 Venture Studio during our recent trip to Nairobi. 

Delta40, a impact-driven venture studio, is dedicated to nurturing inclusive climate innovation across Africa. Beyond providing funding, the team offers hands-on support, shared services, and strategic partnerships to empower ventures and founders.

During lunch, we experienced both openness and honesty around challenges and successes in fundraising. A testament to Delta40’s vision of creating a close-knit community by breaking bread together. 

Thanks for having us Delta40 😀🙏  

#entrepreneurship #innovation #partnerships #impactdriven #BESTSELLERFoundation

It was insightful as always to catch up with DI East Africa and the Danish Embassy in Kenya 💡🌍🤝

We talked about Kenya’s ambitious waste management regulations and policies, our upcoming partnership for entrepreneurs in the plastic value chain, the potential for textile waste collection recycling, and ambitious plans for increased collaboration.    

Scaling green ventures is the key to boosting economic growth today and reducing emissions tomorrow. These are the types of collaborations that help us get there. 

Thank you for meeting with us and for inspiring conversations Klaus Lehn Christensen, Enock Nyachae, Stephan Schönemann and team.

 #collaborations #wastemanagement #wasteregulation #plasticvaluechain #BESTSELLERFoundation

Last week, we had the joy of attending a great event organised by Somo exploring innovation, digitisation, and sustainability in micro and small businesses 🤝

Attending were business partners – that would be our category🙋🙋♂️ – and the many incredible entrepreneurs Somo supports.

We partnered with Somo in 2021 to provide loans to a portfolio of micro and small business owners.

MSME financing remains minimal on the African continent, and to spur economic growth, we must address the financing gap at this level. Somo is directly tackling this challenge, providing financing where banks and other institutions often do not. The numbers speak for themselves: For every dollar invested, USD 14 is generated 📈

We are incredibly proud to support Somo's mission 🎉👏

#MSME #entrepreneurship #financing #economicgrowth #Somo #BESTSELLERFoundation

Congratulations to Regen Organics on an impactful 2023 🚀✨
    
We're excited to see how the company is addressing some of the most critical challenges across the food systems value chain and driving positive change for both people and the planet 🌍 

Here are some key highlights from the newly launched 2023 impact report:

👏 30,300 tons of organic waste collected and converted
👏 8,900 farmers with increased yields
👏 20-50% increased yields and $1430pa increased income for farmers using Regen's Evergrow fertilizer 

While we have known Regen Organics for longer, we invested in the climate-tech entrepreneurs in 2022. We are proud to support them in showcasing a viable path to scaling circular solutions in food systems 🤝 

#impactinvestments #climate #foodsystems #entrepreneurship #sustainability

The annual summit has been inspiration, collaboration, and a powerful reminder that unlocking the next level of innovation requires collective action 🌎🤝

One of our key takeaways yesterday, was the call for a shift from transactional to relational business models, focusing on human-centric value creation and trust-based partnerships.

The summit also posed questions that all ventures across industries must answer moving forward: 

💰 How do we measure business value beyond profit?
🌎 How do we produce within the limits of our planet?
🤔 How do we create positive impact in the entire operational process?

Attending the Global Fashion Summit has left us with both inspiration and a sense of urgency to push beyond the known 🚀

#GlobalFashionSummit #UnlockingOpportunities #Sustainability #Climate #Collaboration

We’re beyond excited to welcome Line Boss to the BESTSELLER Foundation team 🤝🚀🌍
 
Line has a degree in International Purchase Management and specialises in Responsible Sourcing. As part of the textile industry throughout her career, Line has travelled the 🌍 to learn about manufacturing processes. She’s an expert in sustainable supply chain management and passionate about new textile recycling technologies 👚👖
 
Line comes to the Foundation from a long career with BESTSELLER – we dare say she fell for us and the African continent when representing BESTSELLER at UNLEASH 2023 in Rwanda a few months ago. Line and her teammates went all the way to the finals and won ‘Most Scalable Solution’ for an innovation tackling end-of-life textile waste 🏆💪
 
Line is based in Denmark, but growing up she lived in multiple places – she was born in South Korea, raised in the Netherlands, and worked in Dubai. She is excited to take on a ‘new’ continent and delve into African opportunities with BESTSELLER Foundation, while keeping an eye on BESTSELLER’s main sourcing countries. Line will manage our donations and collaborations with BESTSELLER and run new and exciting textile recycling projects 🌟

We're absolutely delighted to have you onboard, Line 💚

This week, we attended the Africa Tech Summit in Nairobi 💡🚀

Considering our interest in early-stage investment, it was inspiring to get insights into emerging trends, connect with innovative entrepreneurs, and foster meaningful discussions with fellow investors.

We are grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a dynamic summit shaping the future of tech in Africa 🌍

#Africatechsummit #tech #innovation #networking #inspiration

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