By Charndré Emma Kippie
He is one of South Africa’s emerging icons in the 3D printing scene, and keeps proving that he’ll create his ‘cup of success’ and drink from it!
Luvuyo Ndiki is the bright mind behind Red Cup Village (established in 2014) – the local lifestyle brand dedicated to producing innovative, premium products geared towards helping users make a positive impact on our society. Luvuyo is known as the 3D printing enthusiast turned inventive entrepreneur who is now actively working towards inspiring the youth of SA and accelerating change, with the help of his dedicated, forward-thinking team.
Originally from Butterworth, a town in Eastern Cape, Luvuyo was raised in Bathurst. He eventually came to the Western Cape, where he studied Design Foundation at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), in 2010. It was during his tertiary education that he realised his inventive business idea.
The Design Foundation gave me a wide view of the design disciplines, from architecture, interior design, graphic design, product design, surface design and fashion design. I majored in product design, known as 3D dimensional design, in 2011, but could not complete the course due to financial constraints. However, I was determined to graduate, so I enrolled in Public Relation Management, which I completed in 2014.
I fell in love with 3D printing and established Red Cup Village with the idea to make world-class 3D printing and scanning accessible to individuals, organisations and start-ups across various sectors.
It has been a long journey to where we are today: specialists in manufacturing on-demand consumer products and medical devices using 3D printing and scanning technology in combination with material science. Our platform allows users to construct personalised functional parts and products in a matter of hours, faster than traditional manufacturing processes, using biodegradable raw material derived from corn-starch, sugarcane and recycled plastics.
It’s not just a cup, but a lifestyle. We are building a global lifestyle brand through the best quality products using raw and locally-grown materials and ethical sourcing practices.
As a company, we look towards creating sustainable products for the environment and stimulate green economic growth in the country by producing local products from recycled plastics pallets. We also aim to empower young people to a lifestyle of unity, friendship and discovery. We want Red Cup Village to be a hub for innovative people from diverse cultures. We want South Africans to come together and drink from the same cup as one, united nation.
I believe that Red Cup Village is helping to develop our country as we are creating job opportunities for the people farming corn in rural areas.
One of my grandmothers was a retired teacher who owned a spaza shop selling paraffin, soap, snacks and other daily needs such as bread. She inspired me to do my own thing in life and not wait until you retired to start something. I learnt a lot about running your own types of business from my family values from farming vegetables such as corn in Nqamakwe.
It is a choice…it makes sense (for us as a brand) to move this way because it does not make me happy to make money while filling up landfills with plastic, which would last for 200 years – 1000 years, which does not allow space for natural resources to be developed and ecosystems to survive.
By going green, the rewards will be plenty for you in the future because the world economy is moving in this direction through instating environmental laws across the world.
“Business is all about making something out of nothing.”
Studying each and every department in your business will help you grow.
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Telephone: 086 000 9590 | Mobile: 072 126 3962 | e-Mail: emlyn.dunn@topco.co.za