TechEmerge Partners: Making News and Accelerating Sustainable Cooling

IFC’s TechEmerge program continues to accelerate the adoption of innovation where it is needed most, with our private sector partners reporting new deals and commercial partnerships. Read on to discover how they are fostering the technical skills and green jobs that power sustainable economies and garnering international attention for their innovations to improve food security.

TechEmerge Innovator Koolboks Expands its Reach

French-Nigerian innovator Koolboks is expanding its business and entering new markets following its successful participation in two TechEmerge sustainable cooling pilots.

Building on its pilots in Nigeria with Danone subsidiary, Fan Milk, the company is now set to launch a pilot of 50 Koolboks units in Ghana. This initiative is supported by Danone Communities, the venture capital arm of Danone in Paris. In addition, Koolboks is in advanced discussions for a 500-unit pilot in Nigeria, also backed by Danone Communities.

Koolboks is also collaborating with its TechEmerge pilot partner Amo Farm to strengthen its frozen poultry retail operations.

The program will make 1,000 Koolboks solar freezers available on a rental basis as part of Amo Farm’s franchise support program, empowering local entrepreneurs and making cold chain infrastructure stronger and more sustainable.

“These partnerships reflect the immense value of the TechEmerge program, which began with the pilot of just a few freezer units and has now evolved into significant corporate contracts and market expansions,” said Koolbok’s Chief Business Officer, Natalie Casey. “We are deeply grateful to IFC for catalyzing these opportunities and look forward to continuing this journey of innovation and impact.”

CNN Showcases TechEmerge Innovator Eja-Ice

CNN International has showcased the work of TechEmerge sustainable cooling innovator Eja-Ice in a television series exploring new technologies to boost food production in Africa.

With technical support and grant funding from TechEmerge, the Nigerian company piloted its solar-powered tricycles with three local adopters – L&Z Integrated Farms, Fan Milk and Food Concepts. The pilots aimed to solve refrigeration challenges for last-mile deliveries without relying on fossil fuels and minimizing the use of grid power.

“We’ve made significant progress following our participation in the IFC TechEmerge Temperature-controlled Logistics program,” said Eja-Ice’s Yusuf Oladipupo. “The opportunity provided by IFC has been transformative, enabling us to build impactful partnerships and expand our reach.”

In its most recent TechEmerge pilot in Nigeria, Eja-Ice piloted end-to-end solar-powered cold chain solutions, including cold rooms, chest freezers, and a refrigerated van with Worldbay Technologies, which owns the e-commerce retailer Grocedy in Nigeria.

Watch the CNN special here.

Sustainable HVAC Training at the TechEmerge Cooling Innovation Lab in India

The Indian Institute of Technology in Jammu recently staged four days of training on heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC), in collaboration with TechEmerge adopter Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL).

TechEmerge senior technical advisor Gian Modgil was among the industry and academic experts who shared their insights and knowledge with the 68 HVAC trainees.

The course included training onsite at the TechEmerge Cooling Innovation Lab – created in partnership with IIT Jammu and UAE based district-energy company Tabreed – along with field visits to IHCL’s Vivanta Jammu hotel to inspect its chiller plant.

The TechEmerge Cooling Innovation Lab was created to rapidly advance the development and deployment of cutting-edge, climate-smart cooling solutions.

Located at the IIT Jammu campus, the lab includes state-of-the-art reusable environments to pilot and verify new energy-efficient, cost-effective cooling technologies that lower greenhouse gas emissions, such as AI/IOT-solutions, nanotechnologies, and solar and renewable energy solutions for hotels, shopping malls, and other developments, data centers, cold chains, transport, and more.