Koolboks, the climate-tech company making clean, affordable cooling accessible across Africa, has raised $11 million to scale its solar-powered, IoT-enabled refrigeration solutions across Africa and other emerging markets.
The Series A equity and debt financing, led by KawiSafi Ventures and co-led by Aruwa Capital, the Lead Investor in the Seed Round, and All On, another follow-on investor. Debt funding was secured from FFEM and bpifrance with grants from FFEM/AFD, PREO, Efficiency for Access, and Innovate UK and results-based financing (RBF) from BGFA (Uganda), CEI Africa, and Shell Foundation.
“Every day, I meet small business owners, mostly women, who are forced to throw away unsold food or burn diesel just to stay open,” said Ayoola Dominic, Co-Founder & CEO of Koolboks. “For them, cooling is not about convenience. It’s about survival, dignity, and income. This raise allows us to deepen our reach, build locally, and put power literally back in their hands.”
With over 10,000 solar freezers deployed in 25 countries, including Kenya, Koolboks is empowering market women, frozen food sellers, bars, and rural clinics with reliable cold storage without the need for diesel or unstable electricity. Each Koolboks unit is embedded with IoT technology, enabling remote monitoring of temperature, energy use, location, and door activity while powering its flexible Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) payment system.
“As a woman and co-founder, I’ve seen firsthand how access to reliable cooling can transform a small business and a household,” added Deborah Gaël, Co-Founder of Koolboks. “This isn’t just about technology. It’s about economic freedom for women, for families, for communities. This funding helps us reach the people who’ve been overlooked for too long.”
Koolboks will use the funds to expand its Koolbuy platform, which offers both solar and non-solar cooling products on BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) terms, and to scale Scrap4New, its circularity program that transforms discarded freezers into refurbished, solar-powered, IoT-enabled units extending product life cycles while reducing e-waste.
As temperatures rise and energy insecurity grows, Koolboks sits at the intersection of climate resilience, gender equity, and inclusive tech innovation.