About OUR STARTUP JOURNEY · HYAPAK · KE

A small collective
using one mess to solve
another.

HyaPak is a Kenyan circular-economy company. We harvest invasive water hyacinth from Lake Naivasha and Lake Victoria and turn it into biodegradable packaging that performs like plastic, then quietly returns to soil or water wherever it ends up.

01Mission

Our commitment is to tackle both plastic-waste pollution and water-hyacinth infestation through innovation, joining climate action to a healthier blue economy and the biodiversity of our lakes.

Ultimately, we want to change how you interact with conventional packaging plastics in your day-to-day life.

Not because biodegradable is a nice idea, but because ours lands close to plastic on price, and in our field trials it measurably improved seedling growth.

02Our story

Stuck in a lake.

Lake Naivasha · the lake that started it all

HyaPak started, quite literally, by getting stuck. A group of Egerton University engineering students spent several hours trapped in a dense mat of water hyacinth on Lake Naivasha during a class trip.

That afternoon framed two problems sitting in the same water: an invasive weed strangling the lake, and the plastic waste piling up on its shore. So we asked the question that still runs the company today. What if one problem could solve the other?

What began as a final-year project is now a team of engineers, designers, harvesters and lab researchers building packaging that looks, feels and performs like plastic, grown from the very weed clogging the lake.

The HyaPak team Egerton University · Nakuru, Kenya
03How we do it

Four steps from
lake to shelf.

  1. 01

    Sourcing

    We harvest water hyacinth with the help of affected fishermen, fisherwomen and community members from Lake Naivasha and Lake Victoria. This contributes to additional income to their daily lives, to help counter the income that their households lose to the same weed through fishing activities.

  2. 02

    Quality control

    The harvested biomass is sun-dried and prepared for processing. We check every batch against our internal quality standards before it enters the line.

  3. 03

    Transformation

    Through our proprietary process, the prepared biomass becomes a plant-based material engineered to perform like plastic. Each product is matched to its end use, from sturdy agricultural items to flexible mailers.

  4. 04

    Conversion

    We mould the material into seedling bags, parcel packaging, carton liners, floral wrap and custom builds that drop straight into existing lines and biodegrade on a schedule we set, between 3 and 12 months.

04What we stand for

Three values
we ship by.

05Team & roots

A small collective
with a long shelf.

HyaPak is a Kenyan circular-economy company founded in 2022 by a team of Egerton University engineers. We're a team of engineers, designers and researchers working alongside lakeside fishing communities to change how single-use materials get made and discarded. We exist to make packaging sustainable, affordable and high quality. Our work advances climate action, lake conservation and several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Egerton University, where the company is registered, gave us our first lab space and still treats the venture as both research and a teaching tool. Today we manufacture in Nairobi.

  • Lab & ManufacturingMaterials & product R&D
  • Field WorkHarvest, drying & logistics
  • ProductsMoulding, QC & custom builds
  • Community ServiceAdopt a River & Jaza Miti

Learn more · Join us / partner

06Awards & recognition

From Nairobi
to the UN.

07Get involved

Ways to join us.

HyaPak only works because a lot of different people lean in, buyers, investors, partners and the people who build it with us. Here is how you can.

Buy

Use our packaging

Order seedling bags, mailers, liners, wrap or a custom build for your business.

See products → Invest

Back the company

We raise privately from mission-aligned investors. See how investment works and register interest.

Explore investing → Replicate

Bring HyaPak to your waterway

Water hyacinth chokes lakes in 70+ countries. If it is your problem too, let's co-build the model.

Start a conversation → Join

Work or partner with us

Careers, research collaborations, community projects and pilots. Tell us what you have in mind.

Get in touch →

07Be a part of the change

Let's pack the future.

Order, partner, research, visit our lab in Nakuru, or simply say hi. Whatever it is, a real human on our team will read your note and write back.

Get in touch See products
or reach us directly at info@hyapak.com · +254 787 161 524