Koolboks raises $2.5 million to scale solar refrigeration across Africa

Oluwajuwonlo Afolabi -

Koolboks, a France-based renewable energy startup focused on Africa, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding to scale its solar refrigeration solution across the region.

  • The fund will be used to grow its team for its B2C business, build a local assembly plant, and expand into new markets.
  • Koolboks is a Paris and Lagos-based startup that creates a solution to refrigerate without power. It offers an affordable and accessible cold storage solution to businesses in Africa.
  • Its product currently sells in 18 countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and others.
  • Aruwa Capital Management led the funding round, with participation from Acumen, Blue Earth Capital, All On, GSMA, and other investors.

Why this matters

Over 640 million Africans have no access to energy. In Nigeria, the national power grid collapsed 222 times between 2010-2022– leading to power outages and business shutdowns in the country. Koolboks Freezer as a renewable energy-based solution will improve access to energy for individuals, homes, and SME businesses in Africa. The pay-as-you-go feature enabled in the product will also increase the affordability of the product while ensuring that businesses and individuals can pay in instalments for it. This will overall add to the ease of doing business on the continent.