Malik Lakoubay from Dark Matter Labs on financing civic infrastructure and democratic innovation
Ep. 58

Malik Lakoubay from Dark Matter Labs on financing civic infrastructure and democratic innovation

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Episode description

Malik Lakoubay is a system builder and co-runs the Expanding Civilizational Optionality initiative at Dark Matter Labs, working at the intersection of civic infrastructure, finance, technology, and democratic renewal. In this episode, he explores how technology can enable new forms of participation and collective decision-making, from quadratic voting to community sensing in Mumbai. The conversation takes a provocative turn into “civic finance”: treating civic infrastructure as an asset class and exploring democracy bonds as a way to mobilize private capital for public value. Lakoubay also discusses token economics, incentive design, and why democratic innovation may require rethinking how value is created, measured, and shared.

0:00From poetry to civic tech
3:15Barcelona, Platoniq, and open technology
5:22Goteo and crowdvocacy
10:44Civic tech growth and sustainability
14:01Art-based participation and political UX
17:16Enclave deliberation and citizen-led agendas
24:07Scaling and institutional commitment
26:17Conflict, polarization, and hybrid deliberation
31:14GRID: AI inside the room
38:18Democracy, solidarity, and affect
42:10Maintenance, governance, and democratic time
45:51From participants to facilitators
49:35Final message: slow down and recycle