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By Viktoria Fakiya
Lagos, Nigeria: One of Kenya’s biggest climate tech success stories is officially looking for a new owner. KOKO Networks, the clean cooking startup that once supplied bioethanol to more than 1.5 million households, has put its business up for sale after collapsing earlier this year.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), acting as administrator and liquidator, has invited potential buyers to bid for the company’s ethanol cooking technology, manufacturing plant in India, and its fuel distribution platform, with only investors capable of completing deals worth more than $15 million eligible to participate. Expressions of interest close on July 17, 2026.
The sale marks the latest chapter in the dramatic fall of a company once hailed as one of Africa’s most innovative clean energy startups. KOKO built a network of smart fuel ATMs that allowed households to refill bioethanol for cooking, offering a cleaner alternative to charcoal and kerosene.
Its operations stretched across Kenya and Rwanda, while its proprietary stoves, fuel canisters, and software platform helped it become one of the continent’s most recognisable climate-tech ventures.
The sale now includes that entire ecosystem, from its intellectual property and patents to its manufacturing facilities and retail infrastructure.
Founded in 2014, the company expanded rapidly, launching its consumer fuel network in 2019 and surpassing one million households by 2023. It raised hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, equity, and guarantees, with its business model heavily dependent on revenue from carbon credits.
But trouble began in late 2025 after the Kenyan government declined to issue the authorisations needed for the company to sell carbon credits into international compliance markets.
Combined with allegations that some of its carbon credit claims had been overstated, the setback left KOKO without a key source of revenue. By January 2026, the company had run out of cash and laid off its entire 700-person workforce across Kenya, Rwanda, India, Mauritius, and the UK before entering administration in February.
The collapse has become one of Africa’s biggest climate-tech cautionary tales. KOKO wasn’t just selling cooking fuel; it was demonstrating how carbon markets could subsidise clean energy for low-income households.
Its failure exposed how vulnerable climate startups can be when their business models depend heavily on government policy and international carbon markets.
The proceeds from the sale will first go to secured creditors, including FirstRand Bank, the AfricaGoGreen Fund, and the Mirova Gigaton Fund, before employees owed salary arrears receive payments under Kenya’s insolvency rules.
Whoever buys KOKO won’t just inherit a manufacturing plant or a fuel network; they’ll inherit years of technology development, a recognised consumer brand and one of Africa’s largest clean cooking platforms.
The challenge will be solving the same problem that brought the company down: building a sustainable business that isn’t overly reliant on uncertain carbon credit revenues. The outcome could shape the future of clean cooking innovation and climate-tech investment across Africa.
This story is republished from Techpoint Africa
