Egyptian recycling technology startup Bekia has raised $765,000 in a Seed funding round as it moves to expand its technology-driven waste collection network, launch a new business-to-business software product and test its model in another African market.
The round was led by Madica, the Africa-focused investment programme affiliated with Flourish Ventures, with follow-on investment from Catalyst Fund and participation from Dakar-based Jambaar Capital.
Founded in 2019 by Alaa Afifi, Bekia connects households with waste collectors through a digital platform that records the weight, grade and payment for recyclable materials, creating a traceable supply chain for businesses and factories.
The company says it has diverted more than 25,000 tonnes of waste from landfill, served over 100,000 customers and enabled more than 2,400 people to earn through its network.
What is Bekia and What Does It Do?
Bekia is an Egyptian technology startup focused on bringing greater organisation and transparency to the country’s recycling and waste collection sector.
The company initially developed a consumer-facing application that allows households to schedule waste collections.
Once a collection is booked, a collector arrives at an agreed time, weighs the recyclable materials and pays the household based on the published rate, with payment made through a bank account or digital wallet.
What distinguishes Bekia is that it digitally records each transaction, including the supplier, weight, material grade and payment.
The company therefore creates a digital trail around recyclable materials that can subsequently be accessed by businesses and factories seeking more traceable supplies.
As Afifi puts it, Bekia has built “the software layer” for a recycling sector that previously operated largely on “cash and trust” without formal records.
The Pain Points in Bekia’s Focus
Bekia is targeting a recycling market characterised by enormous waste volumes, limited formal infrastructure and a highly fragmented collection system.
Egypt generates approximately 60,000 tonnes of municipal waste every day, with much of it ending up in open dumps rather than recycling facilities.
At the same time, a significant portion of recyclable waste is handled by informal collectors who generally operate without formal contracts, licences or comprehensive digital records.
This creates difficulties for households seeking reliable collection services, collectors trying to build consistent income and companies that need evidence of what happened to their waste.
Bekia believes the fundamental problem is not a lack of demand for recyclable materials, but the absence of a reliable connection between those holding recyclable waste and the factories that require it.
“The market never lacked demand for recyclable material, it lacked anything connecting the households holding it to the factories that want it,” Afifi said.
Funding to Drive Expansion and New Products
The newly secured $765,000 Seed round is expected to provide Bekia with capital to strengthen its technology and expand its commercial operations.
Madica led the investment, while Catalyst Fund, which first invested in Bekia in 2023, returned for the latest round alongside Dakar-based Jambaar Capital.
Bekia said the new funding will support the expansion of its engineering team, the launch of Bekia Next and testing of its business model in a second African market.
The company’s growth has already attracted attention from its investors. Catalyst Fund Partner Maxime Bayen said Bekia had grown more than seven times since its initial investment while developing a stronger business-to-business platform.
Madica’s Head, Emmanuel Adegboye, similarly highlighted Bekia’s attempt to create “a more interconnected, tech-driven ecosystem” serving households, small businesses and industrial waste producers.
Bekia Next and the Business of Waste Data
A major part of Bekia’s next phase is the planned launch of Bekia Next, its first B2B software product.
The service is designed to turn the company’s collection data into verified CO₂-avoidance certificates for corporate customers, using established international carbon-accounting methodology.
This marks a shift in Bekia’s business model because the product will be offered as a subscription rather than solely as a collection service.
The development reflects a broader commercial opportunity in waste management, companies increasingly need reliable information about how their waste is collected, processed and ultimately disposed of or recycled.
Bekia’s existing system already records the supplier, weight, material grade and payment for every collection.
The startup is therefore attempting to transform information generated through physical waste collection into a digital service with commercial value. Its founder argues that while recyclable material is already a commodity, “the record of it isn’t.”
The Road Ahead and the Expansion Plans
Bekia’s expansion comes as Egypt seeks to increase its municipal recycling rate to 60% by 2027, from approximately 37% in 2024, according to the company’s funding announcement.
Against this backdrop, Bekia says it has already diverted more than 25,000 tonnes of waste from landfill, served more than 100,000 customers and created earning opportunities for over 2,400 people through its network.
The company also reports that 97% of its customers are women, enterprise customer retention is above 95%, and its overall business has grown more than sevenfold since 2023.
Its revenue currently comes from enterprise contracts, household collections and refurbished electronics, with the latter beginning to generate revenue in June 2026.
With the new funding, Bekia will test its model in another African market, potentially providing an opportunity to determine whether its technology-enabled approach to formalising waste collection can be adapted beyond Egypt.
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