Salubata

Salubata is a footwear design and manufacturing company founded in Nigeria in 2020 by Fela Buyi Akinse and Yewande Akinse. The company focuses on circular design by collecting and converting plastic waste into customizable shoes. Its principal product concept is a modular shoe: components can be assembled, replaced, or repurposed, allowing the footwear to be customized while potentially extending product life and reducing material waste. The company is reported to have developed two patented technologies. One concerns modular shoes made from or repurposed using plastic waste; the other concerns carbon-decomposition shoe technology. The available reference material does not provide patent numbers, filing jurisdictions, technical specifications, or commercial launch dates, so the precise scope and legal status of these technologies cannot be independently detailed here. Salubata presents its business as both a footwear venture and an environmental-impact initiative. The company states that five percent of profits from shoe sales are directed toward empowering children and women in underprivileged communities. This social-impact allocation links its commercial model with community development, although the available sources do not specify the beneficiaries, programs, geography, or audited financial results. The brand has received recognition in entrepreneurship, circular-economy, and climate-adaptation programs. In 2020, it won the IEEE Entrepreneurship Stars Virtual Competition. In 2021, it was identified as a winner of the Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge organized by the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation. It also received recognition through the Swiss Africa Business Innovation Initiative, the Better Incubation Contest, and the Extreme Tech Challenge. In 2022, Salubata won the Kigali Startup Festival at the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Kigali. The company has also been associated with Amazon and the Techstars Accelerator in Los Angeles, although the available material does not clarify whether these relationships were partnerships, accelerator participation, commercial arrangements, or another form of collaboration. In 2023, Salubata was shortlisted from 650 entries from more than 20 countries for the Make it Circular Challenge and won Circularity 20 at GreenBiz's online circular-economy event. These appearances positioned the company within the emerging field of circular consumer products, where waste reduction, product longevity, material recovery, and responsible manufacturing are central brand themes. The company is described as having Nigerian origins, registration in France, and current headquarters in the United States, giving it a cross-border corporate profile. Publicly available reference material does not establish its current production scale, retail distribution, revenue, employee count, funding history, or exact ownership structure. Its present status is therefore best characterized as an active, internationally oriented sustainable-footwear venture, with its brand identity centered on modular footwear, plastic-waste conversion, patented material or construction technologies, and community impact.

Salubata was founded in 2020 by Fela Buyi Akinse and Yewande Akinse, with its origins in Nigeria. The company was established around the idea that footwear could be designed as a circular product rather than as a disposable, single-material item. Its reported approach combines the recovery of plastic waste with modular construction, enabling customized shoes and the replacement or rearrangement of components. The company is also described as having developed two globally patented technologies. The first relates to modular shoes produced from or repurposed with plastic waste. The second is described as carbon-decomposition shoe technology. Public reference material does not provide patent identifiers, technical descriptions, or details of the jurisdictions in which protection was granted, so these claims are recorded at a high level. Salubata's early development was accompanied by recognition in entrepreneurship and innovation competitions. In 2020, it won the IEEE Entrepreneurship Stars Virtual Competition. In 2021, it was named a winner of the Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge linked to the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation. Additional recognition included the Swiss Africa Business Innovation Initiative awarded by Venturelab, the Better Incubation Contest, and the Extreme Tech Challenge. By 2022, Salubata had gained further visibility through the Kigali Startup Festival at the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Kigali, where it was announced as the winner. The company was also reported to have partnerships or relationships with Amazon and Techstars Accelerator Los Angeles. The available source does not explain the commercial or organizational terms of those relationships. Salubata's work was additionally featured or discussed by outlets including TechCrunch and Business of Fashion. In 2023, the company was shortlisted for the Make it Circular Challenge from a field of 650 entries representing more than 20 countries. It also won Circularity 20 at GreenBiz's online circular-economy event. These milestones reinforced its positioning in circular fashion and sustainable product innovation. Alongside its environmental proposition, Salubata states that it allocates five percent of profits from shoe sales to empowering children and women in underprivileged communities. The available material does not identify the relevant programs, beneficiaries, reporting methodology, or audited amount of support. The company is described as registered in France and headquartered in the United States while retaining its Nigerian origins. This structure suggests an internationally oriented venture, but public sources supplied for this entry do not establish its legal entity, production facilities, distribution network, current management beyond the founders, funding, revenue, or operating scale. Salubata is therefore best documented as an active sustainable-footwear company whose public identity rests on modular shoes, plastic-waste conversion, claimed patented technologies, social-impact commitments, and circular-economy recognition.

1. 2023Make it Circular Challenge shortlist

   Salubata was shortlisted from 650 entries from more than 20 countries.

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2. 2023Circularity 20 winner

   Salubata won Circularity 20 at GreenBiz's online circular-economy event.

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3. 2022Kigali Startup Festival winner

   The company won the Kigali Startup Festival at the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Kigali.

   Source
4. 2021Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge winner

   Salubata was listed as a winner of the Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge associated with the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation.

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5. 2020Salubata founded

   Fela Buyi Akinse and Yewande Akinse founded Salubata in Nigeria.

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6. 2020IEEE Entrepreneurship Stars Virtual Competition winner

   Salubata won the IEEE Entrepreneurship Stars Virtual Competition.

   Source

Circular and socially oriented footwear brand combining customizable modular shoe design, plastic-waste conversion, and claimed patented material or construction technologies.

• Modular shoesFootwear

  Salubata's core footwear concept is a modular shoe assembled from interchangeable or configurable components. The design is intended to support customization and may allow parts to be replaced or repurposed rather than requiring disposal of the complete shoe. Public reference material links the modular construction to the company's circular-design approach, but does not specify the full component system, retail range, pricing, or manufacturing process.

• Plastic-waste footwearSustainable footwear

  The company collects and converts plastic waste into customized shoes. This product direction is intended to reduce the use of virgin inputs and give discarded plastic a role in a consumer product. The available source does not identify the types or volumes of plastic used, the supply chain, certification, or the precise proportion of recycled material in finished shoes.

• Carbon-decomposition shoe technologyFootwear technology

  Salubata is reported to have developed patented carbon-decomposition shoe technology. The supplied reference does not explain how the technology works, which materials it affects, under what conditions decomposition occurs, or whether it is incorporated into a commercially available product line.

• 2020Adoption of a circular footwear modelStrategy

  Salubata was founded around converting plastic waste into footwear and developing modular shoes.

  What changed. The company pursued customizable modular footwear and waste-based material technologies as its core product strategy.

  Aftermath. The model became the basis of Salubata's sustainability positioning and subsequent awards in entrepreneurship and circular-economy programs.

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• Social-impact profit allocationStrategy

  Salubata describes community empowerment as part of its operating model.

  What changed. The company states that five percent of profits from shoe sales are used to empower children and women in underprivileged communities.

  Aftermath. The stated allocation supports the brand's social-impact positioning; the available source does not provide audited results or program details.

  Source

• 2023Salubata shortlisted for Make it Circular Challenge

  The company was shortlisted from 650 entries submitted from more than 20 countries for the Make it Circular Challenge.

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• 2023Salubata wins Circularity 20 at GreenBiz event

  Salubata won Circularity 20 at GreenBiz's online circular-economy event, adding further recognition in the sustainable-business sector.

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• 2022Salubata wins Kigali Startup Festival at Commonwealth Youth Forum

  Salubata was announced as the winner of the Kigali Startup Festival held in connection with the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Kigali.

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• 2021Salubata wins Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge

  The company was listed among the winners of the Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge associated with the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation.

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• 2020Salubata wins IEEE Entrepreneurship Stars Virtual Competition

  Salubata was reported as the winner of the IEEE Entrepreneurship Stars Virtual Competition, an early recognition of its waste-based modular footwear concept.

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1. Salubata