Kleankickx Sneaker Care
Founded by Gordon Fay · Germany and Ghana · Sustainability · Pre-revenue
KleanKickx is building Africa’s first climate-conscious sneaker care and circular footwear platform, using tech-enabled cleaning, restoration, and take-back programs to keep shoes in use and out of landfills. We turn Ghana, and eventually the continent, into a hub for responsible sneaker lifecycle management for both local communities and global brands.
KleanKickx is building the circular footwear infrastructure for West Africa, starting in Greater Accra, Ghana. Our mission is to extend the life of every sneaker we touch through professional care, education, and end-of-life recovery, turning Ghana’s role in the global textile waste trade into a hub for circular innovation.
KleanKickx reduces landfill and ocean-bound waste by extending sneaker lifespans and diverting end-of-life shoes into reuse or recycling streams, while creating green jobs and local value in the process. Our foundation, KleanKids, builds on this by educating children and young people about sneaker care, waste, and climate, and by channeling quality restored sneakers to kids in underserved communities, so the next generation both benefits from and actively participates in the circular economy.
What they need right now
We need a small grant or pre-seed funding ($150k - $500k) to scale our service hubs and pilot our "End-of-Life" recovery infrastructure, effectively diverting thousands of sneakers from African landfills. We’re looking for mentorship on circular business models and how to best measure our impact. We would love warm introductions to recycling partners in Europe or Africa who know how to handle footwear materials. We need visibility in the impact community to help us attract the right collaborators and pilot partners.