KOKO Networks

The company Koko was founded in 2014.{{cite web |title=Mizuho Bank and KOKO Networks establish strategic partnership in the field of carbon credits |url=https://www.mizuhogroup.com/bank/news/2023/08/20230804_2release_eng.html |publisher=Mizuho Financial Group |access-date=2 October 2023 |language=en |archive-date=25 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925203728/https://www.mizuhogroup.com/bank/news/2023/08/20230804_2release_eng.html |url-status=live }} It soft-launched its ethanol cooking fuel product in Nairobi in mid-2017 and throughout 2018.{{cite web |title=Offering Clean Cooking Fuel To Low Income Households |url=https://www.kenyacic.org/2018/08/offering-clean-cooking-fuel-to-low-income-households/ |publisher=Kenya Climate Innovation Center |access-date=2 October 2023 |language=en |date=22 August 2018 |archive-date=22 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922050716/https://www.kenyacic.org/2018/08/offering-clean-cooking-fuel-to-low-income-households/ |url-status=live }} The product was publicly launched in July 2019 for Nairobi. The company launched a retail platform aimed at small shops in December 2021 to distribute other products aside from bioethanol.{{cite news |last1=Njanja |first1=Annie |title=Tech-led biofuel startup Koko Networks launches new consumer goods business in Kenya |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/30/tech-led-biofuel-startup-koko-networks-launches-new-consumer-goods-business-in-kenya/ |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=TechCrunch |date=30 December 2021 |archive-date=18 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818035735/https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/30/tech-led-biofuel-startup-koko-networks-launches-new-consumer-goods-business-in-kenya/ |url-status=live }}

By 2021, the company had opened locations in Mombasa. It announced an expansion into Rwanda in 2022 in a partnership with the venture capital firm Dalberg Ventures.{{cite news |title=KOKO Expands Into Rwanda in Bid to Replace Charcoal With Ethanol |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-22/koko-expands-into-rwanda-in-bid-to-replace-charcoal-with-ethanol#xj4y7vzkg |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=Bloomberg.com |date=22 March 2022 |language=en}} In August 2023, the company claimed that it had passed 1 million households as customers.

As of August 2023, the company has spent over USD 100 million in subsidies for its customers, financed by international carbon markets. It has sold carbon credits in South Korea and stated its plans to do so in Singapore and Japan.{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Tom |title=Start-up taps carbon markets to boost clean cooking in Africa |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5ab93324-685d-43c8-b30d-b5332b1a378d |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=Financial Times |date=15 August 2023 |archive-date=18 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818034942/https://www.ft.com/content/5ab93324-685d-43c8-b30d-b5332b1a378d |url-status=live }} It also has a partnership to sell carbon credits with the South African Rand Merchant Bank, which had also invested in the company.{{cite news |title=Rand Merchant Bank Expands African Carbon Business With Cookstove Company Deal |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-12/rand-merchant-bank-expands-carbon-unit-with-cookstove-deal |access-date=20 March 2024 |work=Bloomberg |date=12 January 2024 |archive-date=12 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112160813/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-12/rand-merchant-bank-expands-carbon-unit-with-cookstove-deal |url-status=live }} In March 2025, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency issued a 15-year political risk guarantee of USD 179.6 million for the company.{{cite web |title=MIGA Fuels Clean Cooking Innovation in Kenya |url=https://www.miga.org/press-release/miga-fuels-clean-cooking-innovation-kenya |publisher=Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency |access-date=13 April 2025 |date=17 March 2025}}{{cite news |title=MIGA issues $179.6m guarantee to back African clean-cooking initiative |url=https://impact-investor.com/miga-issues-179-6m-guarantee-to-back-african-clean-cooking-initiative/ |access-date=13 April 2025 |work=Impact Investor |date=25 March 2025}}

Koko supplies its bioethanol from imports and from sugarcane processing waste in a partnership with Vivo Energy,{{cite news |last=Kedem |first=Shoshana |title=KOKO oil – clean, cheap and safe |url=https://newafricanmagazine.com/19906/ |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=New African |date=22 September 2019 |archive-date=18 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818041337/https://newafricanmagazine.com/19906/ |url-status=live }} while its stoves are manufactured in India. As of 2022, it sells a set of a cooker, fuel canister, and initial stock of bioethanol for approximately USD 15.{{cite news |title=Selling a Cleaner, Affordable Cooking Fuel for Kenyan Homes |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-11-01/selling-a-cleaner-affordable-cooking-fuel-for-kenyan-homes |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=Bloomberg.com |date=1 November 2022 |language=en |archive-date=26 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726081330/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-11-01/selling-a-cleaner-affordable-cooking-fuel-for-kenyan-homes |url-status=live }} The bioethanol is sold from 300-liter filling stations resembling ATMs, typically located in dense neighborhoods.{{cite news |title=Nairobi Startup Pushes Cleaner Home Cooking Fuel |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_nairobi-startup-pushes-cleaner-home-cooking-fuel/6178556.html |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=VOA |date=30 October 2019 |language=en |archive-date=18 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818042237/https://www.voanews.com/a/africa_nairobi-startup-pushes-cleaner-home-cooking-fuel/6178556.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Njehia |first1=Jackson |title=Nairobi's fuel dispensers replace charcoal, kerosene with biofuel |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nairobis-fuel-dispensers-replace-charcoal-kerosene-with-biofuel-2021-10-04/ |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=Reuters |date=4 October 2021 |language=en |archive-date=18 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818040901/https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nairobis-fuel-dispensers-replace-charcoal-kerosene-with-biofuel-2021-10-04/ |url-status=live }} According to the Financial Times, the company operated 700 such machines in 2019.{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Tom |title=Kenyan cooking start-up uses tech to cut costs and save lives |url=https://www.ft.com/content/c7c62ca6-d556-11e9-8d46-8def889b4137 |access-date=20 March 2024 |work=Financial Times |date=1 November 2019 |archive-date=20 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320093253/https://www.ft.com/content/c7c62ca6-d556-11e9-8d46-8def889b4137 |url-status=live }} The company claims to employ 1,800 people with operations in eight Kenyan cities in mid-2023.{{cite news |last1=Dietz |first1=Charles |title=Cookstove carbon offset projects: a view from the ground with supplier KOKO Networks (PR Publication) |url=https://african.business/2023/06/resources/cookstove-carbon-offset-projects-a-view-from-the-ground-with-supplier-koko-networks |access-date=20 March 2024 |work=African Business |date=30 June 2023 |archive-date=20 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320094721/https://african.business/2023/06/resources/cookstove-carbon-offset-projects-a-view-from-the-ground-with-supplier-koko-networks |url-status=live }}

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Category:2014 establishments in Kenya

Category:Companies based in Nairobi

Category:Kenyan brands

Category:Energy companies of Kenya

Category:Ethanol fuel