We are pleased to announce our Hero Spotlight of the Month: 2022 ABH 2022 Top 50 Hero, Ayoola Dominic, the co-founder and CEO of Koolboks, a clean-technology company making affordable, solar-powered freezers accessible to micro-enterprises and off-grid communities across Africa.

Koolboks was born from a pivotal insight: technology developed for leisure in Europe could be re-imagined for life-saving solutions in Africa. Ayoola and his co-founder Deborah Gaël began by designing a powered cooler for camping, but witnessing the cycle of food waste and reliance on polluting diesel generators in Nigeria triggered a full pivot. Their solution paired robust hardware with inclusive financing through a Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) model, turning what was once a prohibitive cost into an income-generating asset.

Targeting sectors where refrigeration matters most smallholder farmers, market traders (especially women), micro-retailers in fish, meat, fruit & vegetables, and rural health-care with cold-chain needs, Koolboks is tackling the 30–40% post-harvest loss that undermines food security across Africa. Users report up to 50% savings on energy or spoilage costs and increased daily profit thanks to reliable cooling.



Koolboks solar freezer

With over 10,000 units deployed across more than 25 countries, Nigeria remains its largest market, followed by Kenya and Uganda. The company is scaling through localized assembly (notably a plant planned in Nigeria to cut costs by 15–20%), and a hybrid model of hardware, financing (PAYGO & BNPL via “Koolbuy”), IoT-enabled monitoring, and data services to support growth, risk reduction, and financial inclusion.


Koolboks cofounders: Ayoola Dominic, CEO (centre) and Deborah Gaël, COO (right)/Image Source: Koolboks

In September 2025, Koolboks raised US$11 million in a Series A funding round co-led by KawiSafi Ventures, Aruwa Capital, and All On, with additional debt financing from FFEM and Bpifrance (TechCabal). This funding will support the company’s expansion across Africa and the establishment of its first local assembly plant in Nigeria within 12–18 months, reducing operational costs by 15–20% and passing savings on to users. This milestone demonstrates both investor confidence in Ayoola’s vision and Koolboks’ transformative impact on food security and energy access.

Koolboks is more than a freezer company: it’s a platform for climate-resilience, market access, and gender inclusion. By replacing diesel-based cooling with solar-driven solutions, enabling women entrepreneurs to access assets, and creating cold-chain infrastructure for rural health clinics and agri-value chains, Ayoola’s vision is helping make refrigeration a foundation of Africa’s inclusive growth.

Congratulations to Ayoola and the entire Koolboks team from all of us in the ABH community,  your leadership is redefining what’s possible for small businesses, communities, and the continent’s clean-tech future.