Alex Mativo
Alex Mativo is a Kenyan serial entrepreneur who turns pressing African challenges into scalable tech businesses. In 2014, while still an industrial-design student, he launched E-LAB to collect and upcycle electronic waste into fashion accessories and interior-décor pieces. The venture has reclaimed more than 3,000 tonnes of e-waste across six countries, supplied raw material to 80 artisan workshops, and won the 2016 Queen’s Young Leaders Award.
Mativo next tackled the restaurant economy, co-founding Nanasi in 2019. The cloud platform automates ordering, inventory, and delivery for quick-service restaurants; it now serves 1,200 outlets in Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria, processing KES 4 billion in annual sales and integrating seamlessly with M-Pesa, Bolt Food, and Uber Eats.
In 2023 he ventured into data infrastructure with Duck, an AI engine that scrapes point-of-sale and social-media feeds to deliver real-time pricing, demand forecasts, and competitor insights to small and medium-sized enterprises. Early adopters report margin improvements of up to 18 percent. Duck’s seed round closed at US $3.5 million in April 2025, led by Future Africa and Chandaria Capital.
Named to Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 in 2024, Mativo mentors founders through UN-Habitat’s Waste-Wise Cities Accelerator and serves on Kenya’s National E-Waste Steering Committee. His mission: prove that circular-economy thinking, backed by smart software, can power Africa’s next wave of inclusive growth.