Koa makes products from the fruit of the cacao plant, including upcycled cacao fruit juice under the Koa Pure brand. The company plans to scale production and develop additional products built on its upcycled cacao platform. It intends to intensify regenerative agriculture practices and involve over 10,000 more farmers as part of its expansion. Koa aims to address the climate footprint of the West African cocoa industry through these agricultural efforts. Financially, the startup has raised a $15M Series B, bringing its total funding to $25M. The latest round includes both returning and new investors. Koa develops processes and a Mobile Community Processing Unit (CMPU) to upcycle the entire cocoa fruit into products such as Koa Pure, Koa Concentrate and Koa Powder. The company works with more than 2,200 smallholders and has a team of 71 employees. Its factory in Assin Akrofuom (Ghana) has upcycled 760,000 kg of cocoa fruit juice and pulp to date. Koa says its approach can reduce food waste by up to 75% (also reported as 40% reduction in another passage) and cut carbon emissions from the cocoa and chocolate industry. A second factory is under construction that the company expects will create 250 additional jobs and add up to 10,000 smallholders to its network. Koa aims to scale production capacity in Ghana, make cocoa pulp upcycling a standard for West Africa and support farmers with additional earnings from previously unused fruit. The startup was established in 2017 and pursues both production expansion and further research on untapped opportunities on cocoa farms.

Total raised

$15M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Dec 2023