Katrine Anker-Nilssen finds out how three brothers’ love for speedcubing created a thriving little business.
A homeschooling family, Cheryl and Craig Roodt and their five children enjoy waterskiing, fishing, gymnastics and tennis. “We also enjoy yoyo-ing, but speedcubing is our absolute favourite,” says 13-year-old Chase.
The journey of CubeCo started when 15-year-old Raefe got his first Rubik’s cube from his grandparents for his birthday in 2019. “He googled ‘how to solve a Rubik’s cube’ and discovered that there was much more to solving a cube than meets the eye,” explains Chase. “That was how we found the world of speedcubing and speedsolving – basically two names for the same thing; seeing how fast you can solve a Rubik’s Cube.”
In this intriguing world, there’s algorithms (a sequence of moves used to solve specific parts of the cube) and permutations (different patterns of colours and pieces), PBs (personal best; your quickest time to solve a cube), cubing competitions and world records. “After a few days of showing his friends and family how he could solve it, Raefe – along with 10-year-old Blake and I – were soon bitten by the same cubing bug,” laughs Chase. “And from then on we have steadily become faster and more competitive – challenging each other and trying to get the fastest times possible.” Perhaps 6-year-old Grace and 8-year-old Faith will follow suit?
Forming a little cubing community, the Roodt boys went to a cubing competition in Cape Town. “Although we did not place in the Top 3, it was an awesome experience and we strongly recommend it to any new or experienced cubers who haven’t been to one already,” says Chase. “It was after this competition, after meeting lots and lots of new cubers from around the country, and during the first stages of lockdown, that we decided to start a cubing company to supply cubes to all the cubers of South Africa.”
The Roodt brothers were keen to grow the cubing community and build up a following of cubers who loved this hobby as much as they did. “We went through a lot of different names: CubePro, CubesRUs, SuperCube, and even Cubes4Africa, but settled on CubeCo as it sounded much more professional,” says Chase. “We then created our logo and website, and ordered our stock from a supplier in China. All of this was happening during lockdown, so we were very worried that our shipment would be delayed. But they eventually arrived, a full month after they had been shipped,” he smiles.
Inspired by many famous cubers, such as Feliks Zemdegs and Max Park, the brothers’ first sale was to Nicholas Barlow – a cuber from Cape Town they met at the cubing competition. “He was super excited to have found a new cubing company, especially one run by cubers. We were equally excited, and are now sponsoring his YouTube channel – which goes by the same name as him,” says Chase. “We ran a giveaway with his channel, which really helped to promote CubeCo to other cubers, and also ran Facebook and Instagram adverts to capture the attention of anybody looking to find a great present for their friends and family.”
The brothers want to share their love of cubing in order to build up a bigger community so they can eventually run more competitions. “This especially goes for Durban, as there has only been one competition held here so far,” says Chase – adding that they loved teaching a group of kids at Vukukhanye Children’s Home in Westville some basic algorithms, and gave each of them a cube and a bag as a gift.
“We love competing against other cubers, online or in person, to see who can solve the fastest. We also take our cubes everywhere we go, whether it be to the shops or to a restaurant, or even on holiday. So we love the fact that they are portable and we can cube in any place and at any time,” says Chase. “Our dream is to run annual competitions here in Durban. We would also like to do workshops at schools and in underprivileged communities.” *
FOR MORE INFO: www.cubeco.co.za
Pictured: Blake, Raefe and Chase Roodt.