ABARI
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2006
- HeadquartersKathmandu, Nepal
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
ABARI firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ABARI
- Legal name
- ABARI
- Website
- https://abari.earth
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2006
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where ABARI is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Kathmandu
- HQ country
- Nepal
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices4 records
Markets served
ABARI business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Construction Services: ABARI takes on 2-3 construction projects per year as a research, design, and build firm. Projects include schools, libraries, meditation centers, residences, and community buildings using earth and bamboo.
- Training and Workshops: ABARI conducts workshops and training programs for students, artisans, and communities. They host month-long workshops, train craftsmen in bamboo and earth construction techniques, and provide hands-on learning experiences at their facilities in Dhulikhel.
- Open Source Knowledge Sharing: ABARI shares designs, manuals, and technical documentation as open source for disaster response and reconstruction. They provide free open source designs for schools, transitional shelters, and permanent homes.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
ABARI product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ABARI is a research, design, and build firm that designs and constructs earthquake-resistant buildings using earth and bamboo materials, taking on only 2-3 construction projects per year. The firm also publishes open-source designs for schools, transitional shelters, and permanent homes, and delivers hands-on training workshops through its Bambooversity program. Its work spans schools, libraries, meditation centers, hotels, government buildings, and private residences across Nepal and internationally.
Product overview
ABARI is a research, design, and build firm focused on sustainable construction using bamboo and earth materials. Their core offerings include earth and bamboo construction services, open source building designs (permanent schools, transitional shelters, rural homes), and the Bambooversity training program. They operate a bamboo processing facility in Chitwan and have developed a mobile bamboo treatment plant. The company shares designs freely to enable community reconstruction following earthquakes, positioning themselves as both a service provider and knowledge-sharing platform for vernacular architecture.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Earth and Bamboo Construction Services Research, design, and construction of buildings using rammed earth, compressed earth blocks, bamboo, and wattle and daub with earthquake-resistant reinforcement. Serves schools, libraries, hotels, government buildings, meditation centers, and private residences, completing 2-3 projects per year.
- Open Source Building Designs Free downloadable designs for schools, transitional shelters, and permanent homes using earth and bamboo materials, shared publicly to enable disaster response and community-led reconstruction worldwide.
- Bambooversity Training Programs Workshop and training programs teaching bamboo construction techniques, rammed earth building, and vernacular architecture methods to artisans, students, volunteers, and international groups. Includes domestic training in Nepal and international workshops such as the Rwanda program with Koblenz Chamber of Skilled Crafts.
- Mobile Boucherie Treatment Plant Mobile bamboo pressure treatment unit designed and created by ABARI that processes bamboo with borate compounds on-site, extending bamboo durability to over 70 years. This portable technology enables ABARI to adapt bamboo construction methods to local bamboo species in different countries.
Quantifiable outcome
- All ABARI structures survived the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake without a single crack, including Balimtar School just 12 km from the epicenter
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use ABARI
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
ABARI technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
ABARI partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Koblenz Chamber of Skilled Crafts (Partner Africa)coreOrganized bamboo construction workshop in Musanze, Rwanda from July 19-30, 2023. 13 participants trained on building two-story bamboo structures using local bamboo species Arundinaria alpina.
- INBAR (International Network for Bamboo and Rattan)coreLong-standing partnership on bamboo construction projects. Collaborated on Governor's House in Bhutan and bamboo projects in Uganda and Kenya. Nripal Adhikary presented paper on locally developed bamboo treatment method at INBAR conference.
- ActionAid NepalcorePartnership to build over 1600 transitional shelters in Kiwool, Sindhupalchok following the 2015 earthquake. ActionAid Nepal provided local support while ABARI provided technical expertise and open source designs.
- Kamala FoundationminorPartnered with Kamala Foundation to equip Sanu Maya's house with permaculture features including improved cooking stove, biogas, rain water harvesting, and PV panels for electricity.
- WWF Nepal (Hariyo Ban Program)coreCollaboration under USAID-funded Hariyo Ban Program to plant bamboo in Madi Valley, Chitwan. Planted 400 high-value bamboo species seeds along with commercial crops to create natural embankments and reduce human-wildlife conflict.
- Karmi InitiativeminorCollaborative partnership to co-sponsor and construct Sanu Maya Tamang's rammed earth house post-earthquake.
- RotractminorPreviously supported education of Sanu Maya's son before earthquake reconstruction efforts.
- School of Environment and Architecture (SEA) Mumbaicore22 students participated in 5-week documentation and build workshop. Students documented Chaityas of Swayambhu Nath and built rammed earth Chaitya and bamboo gate in Dhulikhel.
- Khwopa UniversityminorSupported ABARI through the SEA workshop process and students presented their works to Khwopa University students.
- CARE NepalcoreCARE Nepal partnered with ABARI to promote bamboo as modern construction material in Janakpur region. ABARI implemented construction using old materials with modern connection and bending techniques.
- Government of BhutancoreGovernment approached INBAR for construction of model bamboo house as prototype. ABARI developed unique construction technique merging traditional timber structure with bamboo for earthquake-resistant buildings.
- University of KansasminorCollaboration with Prof. Lance Gordon Rake to develop bamboo bicycles, cargo bikes, and scooters. Prof. Rake worked with ABARI team from late 2019 through first week of January 2020.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights7 records
ABARI competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Bamboo Living: Bamboo Living designs and builds prefabricated bamboo homes and structures internationally. It is a direct functional peer to ABARI in using bamboo as a primary structural material for residential and small commercial buildings.
- Studio Mumbai: Bijoy Jain's Studio Mumbai is widely regarded as the leading practitioner of hand-crafted, locally sourced, vernacular architecture in South Asia. It is directly comparable to ABARI in its emphasis on craft, materials sourced on-site, and integration of indigenous craftsmen into the build process.
- Anna Heringer (Aga Khan Award–winning architect): Anna Heringer is internationally recognized for earth-and-bamboo buildings (notably the METI School in Bangladesh). Her studio parallels ABARI's combination of sustainable vernacular materials, training-of-locals mission, and humanitarian post-disaster focus.
- Auroville Earth Institute: The Auroville Earth Institute researches, teaches, and builds with compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEB) and rammed earth globally. It is a direct peer to ABARI in earth-construction R&D, training programs, and advocacy for vernacular materials in modern building practice.
- Kéré Architecture: Francis Kéré's firm (Pritzker Prize 2022) is the global benchmark for vernacular-and-modern synthesis, building schools and health clinics in Burkina Faso using local clay and improved techniques. It is directly comparable to ABARI in mission, scale, and the combination of humanitarian focus with award-winning design quality.
- CalEarth (California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture): CalEarth is a US-based non-profit specializing in superadobe and earth-bag construction, with a parallel training-and-education mission. It is comparable to ABARI as a research, design, and build firm in earth architecture that also operates an open curriculum and training center.
Emerging players
- Bamboo U: Bali-based Bamboo U runs immersive design-and-build courses in bamboo architecture with a global student base. It overlaps with ABARI's Bambooversity training program and open-source knowledge-sharing approach but focuses more on international tuition-paying students than domestic humanitarian projects.
- EarthEnable: EarthEnable installs low-cost sealed earthen floors in Rwandan homes. While focused on flooring rather than full buildings, it shares ABARI's mission of replacing cement-based construction with earth-based alternatives in developing markets and operates in overlapping East African geographies.
Regional players
- Yodakandyia / Naya Kamal Studio (Nepal vernacular architecture community): Within Nepal, a small cluster of design studios and NGOs work on post-earthquake vernacular reconstruction using local materials. ABARI's closest regional peers are local firms active in the Kathmandu Valley who share clients (schools, NGOs, hotels) and compete for the same small pool of mission-driven construction budgets.
Broad incumbents
- Foster + Partners: Foster + Partners is a global architecture incumbent that has pursued sustainability-focused commissions and large public buildings. While operating at vastly different scale and material palette, it represents the type of large-scale, code-compliant institutional architecture that ABARI's vernacular approach must increasingly interface with for urban and public commissions.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
ABARI social profiles
Digital presenceABARI financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ABARI leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
ABARI funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ABARI M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ABARI
What does ABARI do?
ABARI is a research, design, and build firm that designs and constructs earthquake-resistant buildings using earth and bamboo materials, taking on only 2-3 construction projects per year. The firm also publishes open-source designs for schools, transitional shelters, and permanent homes, and delivers hands-on training workshops through its Bambooversity program. Its work spans schools, libraries, meditation centers, hotels, government buildings, and private residences across Nepal and internationally.
Is ABARI a public or private company?
ABARI is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was ABARI founded?
ABARI was founded in 2006. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is ABARI based?
ABARI is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal, in the Asia region.
How does ABARI make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Construction Services are the primary driver. The others are training and Workshops and open Source Knowledge Sharing.
Who are ABARI's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Bamboo Living, Studio Mumbai, Anna Heringer (Aga Khan Award–winning architect), Auroville Earth Institute, Kéré Architecture and CalEarth (California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture). Emerging players are Bamboo U and EarthEnable. Yodakandyia / Naya Kamal Studio (Nepal vernacular architecture community) is listed as a regional player. Foster + Partners is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does ABARI have an API?
No public API is recorded for ABARI.