Kenyan startup Eyby is trying to digitise one of Africa’s most fragmented offline markets: building products. The company has built a marketplace that connects manufacturers, distributors, contractors, consultants, retailers and buyers across the built environment, an industry where procurement is still heavily dependent on phone calls, informal networks, catalogues and manual price discovery.
Disrupt Africa reported that Eyby is targeting building products, one of the world’s largest and least digitised industries. The startup wants to make it easier for buyers and sellers to discover products, compare options and transact across a marketplace built for construction and real estate supply chains.
That may not sound as flashy as AI models or fintech unicorns, but it is exactly the kind of infrastructure software African markets need. Construction, housing, commercial property and public infrastructure all depend on reliable access to materials, suppliers and pricing. When that process is inefficient, projects become slower, more expensive and harder to manage.
Construction supply chains are messy. A single project may involve cement, steel, tiles, fixtures, electrical products, plumbing materials, roofing, finishes, machinery and dozens of specialist vendors. Buyers need availability, quality, certification, delivery timelines and price transparency. Sellers need visibility and reliable demand.
In many African markets, that process is still fragmented. Contractors often depend on relationships, WhatsApp messages, physical visits and informal recommendations. Manufacturers and distributors may struggle to reach smaller buyers outside their immediate networks. Retailers may not have the tools to manage inventory and demand digitally.
Eyby’s opportunity is to bring structure to that chaos. If the platform can make product discovery, supplier comparison and procurement easier, it can save time for contractors and create new demand channels for manufacturers and distributors.
Africa’s urbanisation makes this more important. The continent needs housing, roads, logistics hubs, schools, hospitals, offices, factories and energy infrastructure. Every one of those projects touches the built-environment supply chain. Digitising that chain can have effects far beyond one startup.
This is why digital infrastructure should not be understood only as broadband, cloud or fintech rails. Marketplaces that reduce friction in physical industries can also become infrastructure. They make offline sectors more searchable, measurable and efficient.
The same broader question sits behind Africa’s digital infrastructure push. As seen in Egypt’s World Bank-backed digital programme, the continent’s technology story is increasingly about the systems that make physical sectors more efficient: transport, construction, commerce, payments, energy and public services.
Marketplaces are difficult because they must solve both sides at once. Buyers will only come if there is enough useful supply. Suppliers will only invest time if there is enough demand. Eyby will need to build trust, verify listings, handle disputes and make sure the platform reflects real availability rather than stale catalogues.
Logistics may also become part of the challenge. Building products can be bulky, fragile, expensive or location-sensitive. A marketplace can help discovery, but delivery and fulfilment will determine whether users keep returning.
The startup also has to work around entrenched habits. Contractors and suppliers may be slow to abandon relationship-based procurement, especially where credit, negotiation and trust are informal. Eyby does not need to replace those relationships overnight. It needs to make the digital route clearly more useful.
If it works, Eyby could become part of a new class of African B2B platforms that digitise practical industries rather than chasing consumer hype. The built environment is not always glamorous, but it is where a lot of Africa’s next economic growth will physically be built.