• Zambia-based ZeroAI Technologies develops offline AI and robotics learning labs for schools with limited infrastructure.
• The company combines hardware kits, offline software and teacher training to support STEM education without reliable internet or electricity.
• ZeroAI has already trained more than 10,000 students across about 40 schools in Africa and other emerging markets.

Zambia-based ZeroAI Technologies develops an education technology solution focused on a largely underserved segment: artificial intelligence and robotics education in low-resource school environments. The company offers turnkey educational laboratories that allow schools to teach STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — even without stable internet connectivity or reliable electricity infrastructure.

Founder Lottie Mukuka launched the startup in 2015. The company designs integrated ecosystems that combine hardware, software and educational content.

“We designed our solution for the schools everyone ignores: those that lack resources, operate in rural areas or do not have infrastructure. (...) Nobody was solving the offline, hardware-focused, full-lab environment problem at a price schools could actually afford,” Mukuka said.

Each deployment includes hardware kits such as Arduino boards and IoT sensors, proprietary offline simulation software, structured educational programs and teacher training modules. The company says the approach aims to help schools become autonomous in teaching artificial intelligence and robotics.

Meanwhile, ZeroAI’s positioning reflects a broader structural challenge across the African education sector. Most education technology platforms rely on stable internet access and digital equipment, which remain unavailable in many African schools. As a result, ZeroAI adopted a hardware-centered and offline-first model specifically designed for rural and under-equipped environments.

Beyond its educational offering, the company also develops broader automation, robotics and digital innovation solutions as part of a strategy that combines training with industrial applications. The startup has already deployed its solution in several countries and trained more than 10,000 students across roughly 40 schools in Africa and other emerging markets.

By addressing access to digital skills at the school level, ZeroAI Technologies reflects a growing trend among African startups that seek not only to digitize education, but also to adapt business models to infrastructure constraints in order to expand practical access to future technologies.

This article was initially published in French by Adoni Conrad Quenum

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum