In May 2021, GSMA launched the GSMA Innovation Fund for Digital Urban Services with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). The fund was open to start-ups and early-stage companies providing essential urban utility services who leverage digital innovations to make these services more accessible, reliable, sustainable and affordable. Successful organisations were awarded between £100,000 and £250,000 in grant funding and were provided with technical assistance. Pitches were received from 335 organisations in 43 countries across Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, and from these, a cohort of nine organisations were selected. This blog series summarises the key learnings from the grant period.  

ATEC provides sustainable, affordable, and accessible clean cooking products in low- and middle-income countries.  ATEC has developed an IoT-based electromagnetic induction stove – the ‘eCook’ stove – that provides clean and affordable cooking. ATEC’s high-impact carbon credit approach makes it possible for low-income households to purchase the smart (IoT) induction stove for a one-time upfront cost that is affordable within their monthly budget. ATEC covers the remaining costs, offset by data-verified carbon credits generated from daily cooking. Separately, ATEC also has a bio-digester product offering that convert farm waste into safe and clean biogas and organic fertilizer for cooking.  

Globally, four billion people lack access to clean cooking. The particulate matter (PM) 2.5 emissions and smoke inhalation resulting from dirty cooking methods cause multiple health issues, particularly for women as they’re the most exposed. An estimated four million people die every year from illnesses associated with cooking with these fuels. In Bangladesh, over 70% of households still use biomass for cooking. For households earning less than $10/day, 1.5 days per month are spent on collecting wood, while three hours per day are spent on household chores due to inefficient cooking. 

Purpose of the grant and key outcomes  

GSMA supported ATEC to deploy an Android mobile application that has now been integrated into their eCook devices. The app allows users to track live electricity usage and carbon offsets, access customer service support and make payments. This system has improved customers’ control over usage and cost, ultimately influencing behaviour change in adopting electric cooking systems.  

The eCook stoves use mobile data SIM connected to an IoT server that automatically mint Gold Standard certified carbon credits. By digitally tracking and verifying usage through the IoT devices, ATEC helps address over-crediting risks within the sector, supporting the scaling of high-integrity credits within the voluntary carbon markets. 

The key grant outcomes cover ATEC’s stove adoption, app usage, and environmental benefits:  

• ATEC reached 4,464 new e-cook users during the project period. The stoves increased access to improved clean cooking services, with 50% of the users combining the electric cook stove with LPG and 22% making a complete transition to the eCook. 

Fuel stacking combination among ATEC users

• In an endline survey, customer satisfaction with the app’s user interface was quite positive, with 73% of the users rating their satisfaction as ‘high’ or ‘very high.’ This reflects the app’s effectiveness in facilitating payments, monitoring usage, and cost comparisons.  

• 85% of the users attributed saving more than 1 hour daily by switching to electric cookstoves.  Electric cook stoves save time that would otherwise be used collecting fuels and by efficiently transferring heat to the pot hence reducing cooking time.  

• Over the course of the project, ATEC had already diverted 1,705 tonnes of carbon. By encouraging transition to cleaner cooking solutions, the project contributes to reducing carbon emissions, aligning with decarbonisation goals. ATEC also signed a long-term multi-country agreement with ENGIE’s business entity ‘Global Energy Management & Sales’ (GEMS) for the purchase of up to 11.5 million tons of digitised carbon credits. 

• Besides collaborating with ENGIE, ATEC also partnered with DANIDA to scale up electric cooking in Bangladesh and Biniyog Briddhi and Roots of Impact to finance its impact measurement practices by gathering more accurate data.  

• In July 2024, ATEC closed a $3.75 million Series A round led by Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia and Spark+ Africa to support their expansion across Africa and Asia.   

Key learnings from the grant  

• Digital technologies played an important role in making clean cooking solutions more affordable. The combination of a remotely monitored asset and digital payments means that ATEC can offer their stoves on a pay-as-you-cook basis. 34% of ATEC’s customers attributed switching to the eCook primarily due to its affordability through PAYG. Other factors that enabled the transition to electric cooking were the ease of use and safety of the stove. Digital payments also proved successful with 100% of the customer base using mobile money or other digital payment options; 52% of their customers were first-time mobile money users.  

• Carbon credits are revolutionising the clean cooking sector and can be beneficial to both the developer (service provider) and the end user. However, integrity and transparency are key. ATEC’s carbon credits agreement with ENGIE is unique given that it was the first deal to be signed under Gold Standard’s new ‘metered methodology’, and uses digital measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) data. The Gold Standard was found to be the most accurate for clean cooking stoves, placing ATEC’s carbon project among the best and most efficient. As evidenced, selecting the right methodology and partners in the carbon market will support further expansion of their business model. 

• Gender sensitivity is important during marketing and outreach for the productive use of energy assets. Only 8% of the stove owners were female. Meanwhile, 94% of direct users who gained new access to electric cooking were women. Men were the primary registrants, acquiring the stoves which limited ATEC’s direct communication to the primary user of their device thus affecting feedback mechanisms. Clean cooking providers and other providers of productive use of energy assets that directly impact women need to craft effective outreach strategies that address these gender-specific barriers. ATEC promoted the benefits of using the app to their female users, which successfully increased the sales of their stoves.  

• Evolving business models allow for more value propositions to customers. Following the introduction of eCook, ATEC launched the app featuring easy payment gateway integration, leading to an increased uptake of the stove. ATEC’s customers app also incorporated a QR code system which facilitates shared usage and separate payment systems for multiple consumers. With the Cook-to-Earn incentive approach supported by the sale of carbon credits, ATEC expects the increased adoption of their stoves and a behavioural change in household use of the stove. 

• A full transition to clean cooking is hard to achieve. ATEC’s eCook device primarily displaced LPG use, but users continued to use different cooking options for various purposes While varied fuel stacking options- using multiple fuel combinations in the same household- are common, clean cooking providers must improve their offerings to be more competitive than other sources.  

Next steps and scaling 

With GSMA’s support, ATEC achieved gold-standard carbon credit certification for their eCook stoves. ATEC has now been selected as part of the GSMA Innovation Fund for Accelerated Growth which will support select organisations with an additional boost on their path to scale, allowing them to accelerate their sustainability. The grant will enable ATEC to develop the app further to encourage eCook usage by providing usage data and gamifying incentives. By the end of the grant period, ATEC will have scaled this approach to over 6,000 new and existing customers while capturing the full value creation for eCook users. 

By paying incentives to women using carbon credits, ATEC aims to create behaviour change for users to transition from traditional cooking stoves to e-cook stoves, which should drive more usage and adoption.  ATEC also hopes to launch the app beyond Bangladesh and Cambodia, expanding into new markets globally- Zambia, Kenya, India, Rwanda, Nepal and Laos. 

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This initiative is currently funded by UK International Development from the UK Government and is supported by the GSMA and its members.