I started again from scratch

Her parents met in Congo in the sixties. Ms Sibyl Chalupa, head of the company DPXL in Kinshasa, has Greek, Belgian and Portuguese roots but is fourth generation Congolese.

“I left the country to study in Belgium, but I came back to Congo to work in my father’s printing company.

Among others, we had a contract with Kabila for his presidential campaign: we put up posters all over DRC.

After my father started to show an interest in politics himself, however, the problems began. The company went bankrupt overnight, and after that I decided to take a step back and launch something of my own.

DPXL is a studio specialised in urban signs and design. We have a strong experience as a communications agency and offer our services from concept to production. “Your ideas come to life.”

It was a rocky start since we didn’t have any infrastructure or financial aid. And the political situation in DRC was unstable because of the elections. I was afraid to invest in a project in the long term.

At the time, I felt like Dora the Explorer, with my backpack and my laptop, determined to knock at every door. My son’s father, head of the company JAMBO JUS, told me about XSML, an impact investor. So I went to knock on their door as well. They told me to come back in a couple of years. And so I did.”

In the meantime, Ms Chalupa took on a lot of small jobs as an agency. That’s how she managed to obtain the funds to launch her studio.

The financing was meant for machines, development of other services, for example posters and sales of raw materials, essential in our domain.

“Now, we work for big companies like Total, Decathlon and a lot of banks such as Rawbank, Equity bank, etc. For those companies who believe in us, a good company structure is necessary. We also prefinance, because for big international companies' payment is only due 45 days after the delivery date.

On a technical level, we have created small, easy to change panels which allow us to communicate directly with the population. Our product is based on digitalisation and QR codes. They will be strategically placed, so they are visible by the largest number of people possible. It allows me to communicate in Katangese in Kolwezi and broadcast the same advertising at the same time in Lingala here. Everything is connected and I can target a certain audience. To do so, I work with a French company that worked for JCDecaux in the past. DPXL also works with state agencies to help them communicate, and we will become their production and communication agency.

DPXL SASU opens a branch in Katanga and will be settled in Kolwezi by March 2023, an untouched region of the country, it will help our studio to flourish."