Stay IT Cool Secures Acumen Funding to Enlarge Sustainable Chilly Garage Answers Throughout Africa
Keep IT Cool, a Kenyan startup revolutionizing meals preservation with its leading edge sustainable refrigeration answers, has secured investment from world have an effect on investor Acumen to advance its pan-African ambitions.
Established in 2021 by means of Francis Nderitu and Abigail Gachigi, Stay IT Cool leverages a variety of cooling applied sciences and a B2B device platform to bridge provide and insist throughout the fish and poultry worth chains.
Stay IT Cool’s app, “Markiti,” permits farmers and fishermen to trace real-time call for, enabling retail outlets, shops, and eateries to position direct orders for fish and poultry from the supply. A 2024 Earthshot Prize winner, the corporate these days operates in Tanzania and Kenya, with plans to extend additional following its fresh funding from world have an effect on investor Acumen.
“Our partnership with Acumen displays our shared determination to empowering underserved African communities,” mentioned Francis Nderitu, co-founder and managing director of Stay IT Cool. “We purpose to strengthen productiveness, toughen marketplace get entry to, and cut back waste, in the long run serving to those communities building up their earning.”
Chris Maranga, who leads Acumen’s East Africa tasks, remarked, “In East Africa, insufficient chilly garage leads to vital post-harvest losses, which obstruct meals safety and financial building. Stay IT Cool’s solar-powered chilly garage answers take on this downside sustainably, empowering fishermen and smallholder poultry farmers in a few of Kenya’s maximum underserved spaces. This alignment with our undertaking to foster long-term resilience in native markets made supporting Stay IT Cool a herbal choice for us.”
Stay IT Cool has just about eradicated post-harvest loss inside of its community and greater the revenues of three,600 fishermen by means of over 15%. The corporate has additionally constructed a community comprising greater than 2,000 small companies and 40 retail outlets.
With its capability expanded sevenfold, Stay IT Cool, which has already ventured into Tanzania, is development a solar-powered chilly chain facility. This will likely permit the corporate to diversify into vegetables and fruit whilst serving over 100,000 farmers and fishermen. The Acumen funding will additional boost up its plans for enlargement throughout Africa.