The main assets of Koko Networks, once regarded as one of Africa’s most ambitious clean energy startups, have been put up for sale as administrators move to find buyers following the company’s collapse.
The sale covers the company’s ethanol cooking technology, manufacturing operations and fuel distribution platform, marking an effort to recover value from a business that raised more than 100 million dollars from investors and spent years building what it described as a carbon financed clean cooking utility for low income households in Kenya.
According to a public request for expressions of interest issued by administrators and liquidators in Mauritius and India, prospective buyers are being invited to bid for a broad package of assets tied to the company’s operations. These include Koko’s intellectual property for ethanol cooking, its hardware and software designs, patents, a stove and canister manufacturing plant in Sanand, Gujarat, India, and its ethanol fuel retail and distribution network.
Parties interested in the deal are expected to show they have the financial capacity to complete a transaction worth more than 15 million dollars. The amount is being used as a qualification benchmark for bidders and does not represent a final valuation of the assets on offer.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is serving as transaction adviser for the process, with interested buyers expected to obtain the formal sale documents before the deadline for participation.
Koko Networks built its business around replacing charcoal and other traditional cooking fuels with bioethanol, using a technology driven model that relied on thousands of automated fuel dispensing stations known as KokoPoints. At its height, the company said its network was serving about 1.5 million households in Kenya.
The startup attracted support from several major climate and development focused investors, including funds linked to Microsoft and development finance institutions. Backers were drawn to a model that aimed to expand access to clean cooking while also generating revenue from carbon credits.
That model, however, eventually ran into serious trouble. Koko was unable to secure the regulatory approval needed to transfer carbon credits internationally, cutting off access to the higher value carbon markets that had become central to its business economics.
The funding strain forced the company to shut down operations earlier this year, leaving hundreds of employees out of work as it entered administration.
The current sale is not aimed at reviving the business but at recovering value for creditors. Lenders that financed Koko against its assets are expected to hold first claim over any proceeds generated from a sale.
Koko’s collapse has since become a major talking point within Africa’s climate tech space, offering a sharp reminder of the risks tied to business models that depend heavily on carbon markets, policy approvals and still evolving climate finance systems.
For any buyer considering the assets, the key question will be whether Koko’s technology and infrastructure can work under a different ownership structure, in a new market or through a model that is less reliant on carbon credit revenues.
The outcome of the process will ultimately decide whether Koko’s decade long investment in clean cooking becomes a recoverable technology platform or stands as a cautionary tale about the fragility of climate businesses built around uncertain policy and financing frameworks.
