Koolboks

Company

Koolboks produces off-grid, solar-powered refrigeration accessible to everyone who needs it.

Problem

In Nigeria, up to 40% of all food produced is wasted, largely due to a lack of access to cold storage. Even where Nigerians have access to the electricity grid, power is unreliable and back-up diesel generators are ubiquitous. These generators are both more expensive for customers and harmful to the environment.

Solution

Koolboks’ refrigeration uses ice, as well as batteries, to convert the power of the sun into cooling, cutting the cost of off-grid refrigeration by 40%. Koolboks offers their freezers on a lease-to-own basis with a locking device embedded in the compressor. Customers can make affordable weekly or monthly instalment payments. Following a successful pilot to test consumer response to their products, Koolboks received a GSMA grant in March 2022 to launch and scale their solution in Nigeria, targeting fish traders, most of whom are women. With the introduction of IoT, Koolboks can monitor their refrigeration systems remotely and evolve their offering to include Cooling as a Service (CaaS).

Impact

Since partnering with the GSMA, Koolboks has:

– Sold PAYG solar refrigerators for commercial use to 140 fish-trading MSMEs.

– Secured a strategic partnership with Orange to provide freezing and refrigeration solutions in 12 African countries.

– Partnered with Danone Nigeria to sell their solar-powered refrigerators in Lagos. They will pilot 300 innovative Koolboks freezers, introducing the CaaS model.

A message from the Co-founder

“Through working with the GSMA, we expect to learn how the adoption of solar refrigeration on a lease-to-own basis improves profitability and impacts financial inclusion for women fish traders. We also hope to understand how the deployment of IoT PAYG leads to improved freezer monitoring and improves affordability, leading to increased access to energy for the underserved.”
– Dominic Ayoola and Deborah Gael, Co-founders