Just months after Koko Networks collapsed and sent more than 700 employees home, the process of formally dismantling one of Kenya's most prominent clean cooking companies is now moving fast. Administrators have begun marketing the startup's assets, targeting buyers willing to spend upwards of $15 million — the first concrete step toward winding down a company that once served over one million Kenyan households.
An insolvency notice seen by TechCabal invites expressions of interest by July 17, 2026, covering Koko's integrated ethanol cooking technology and manufacturing platform. PwC, which is overseeing the administration of Koko Networks Limited, will shortlist bidders after that deadline passes.
What is on the Table
The assets being offered are substantial. They include Koko's full intellectual property portfolio — patents, hardware designs, and software technologies built over more than a decade — along with a stove and canister manufacturing plant located in Sanand, Gujarat, India.
Also included is the fuel distribution and retail platform that powered more than 3,000 automated fuel stations across Kenya. That network was the backbone of Koko's smart cooking system, delivering subsidised ethanol fuel directly to households at scale.
The preference for a deal above $15 million signals that administrators want a strategic buyer capable of absorbing the business as a whole, rather than a piecemeal breakup of individual components. Prospective buyers must demonstrate that financial capacity before receiving detailed sale documents.
A Carbon Credit Denial That Brought Down the Company
Koko's collapse traces back to a single government decision. The Kenyan government declined to approve a Letter of Authorisation required for the company to sell carbon credits on international markets. That approval was the key that unlocked a revenue stream Koko depended on to subsidise ethanol fuel prices for its customers.
Without it, the company's financial model unravelled. Koko shut down operations in January 2026, cutting more than 700 jobs in the process — a hard landing for a startup that had spent over a decade building infrastructure across the country. The story is a sharp reminder of how closely African clean energy startups' futures can be tied to government policy decisions, a tension explored across emerging tech sectors on the continent.
Who Built Koko — and Who Backed It
Koko Networks was founded in 2013 by Gregg Murray. Over the years it attracted a notable roster of investors, including Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, Mirova, Verod-Kepple, and Rand Merchant Bank. The World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) also backed the business with a $179.6 million guarantee — an enormous vote of confidence in Koko's model that makes its eventual collapse all the more striking.
While PwC handles the administration of Koko Networks Limited, two affiliated Indian entities — Saarus Innovations Pvt Ltd and Koko Networks Pvt Ltd — are being wound up through separate voluntary liquidation processes.
What Comes Next
The July 17 deadline for expressions of interest gives potential buyers just days to signal intent. After that, PwC is expected to shortlist bidders and move toward a transaction — one that could, in theory, keep Koko's technology and distribution infrastructure alive under new ownership.
Whether any single buyer has both the appetite and the capital to absorb a platform of this scale remains the open question. The clean cooking sector across Africa is watching closely. Koko's network and IP represent years of hard-won infrastructure that, in the right hands, could still have a meaningful future — just not under the brand that built it.