Africa’s largest electric mobility company Spiro raises 215 million, edges closer to unicorn status

Spiro, widely regarded as Africa’s largest electric mobility company, has raised $215 million in a new investment round as it accelerates its expansion across the continent and moves closer to unicorn status.

• Spiro, Africa’s largest electric mobility company, has raised $215 million in new funding, bringing it closer to unicorn status.
• The investment will help Spiro expand its battery-swapping network, boost manufacturing, accelerate tech development, and enter new African markets.
• The company claims its electric motorcycles can cut daily transport costs by up to 40% and deliver significant environmental benefits, including a 72% reduction in climate impact.
• Spiro operates in seven African countries and plans further expansions, with production facilities and a battery recycling plant supporting local growth.

Spiro, widely regarded as Africa’s largest electric mobility company, has raised $215 million in a new investment round as it accelerates its expansion across the continent and moves closer to unicorn status.

The latest raise builds on a strong funding trajectory. In October last year, the company announced a landmark $100 million investment round, followed in February by a further $50 million in debt financing from Afreximbank.

The company said the latest equity raise builds on the support of long-standing institutional partners such as FEDA, while also attracting new capital from investors across Europe and Africa, reflecting growing global confidence in infrastructure-led business models in emerging markets.

“Spiro has become a major driver of local industrialisation, value creation and manufacturing across African markets with 6,000 sustainable direct and indirect jobs. Supported by our global pool of investors, we are entering our next growth chapter to deliver clean, cost-effective energy and transport alternatives to millions of riders across the continent”, stated Gagan Gupta, Founder of Spiro and Chairman of Equitane.

The new funding will support a rapid expansion of its battery-swapping network, strengthen its manufacturing and assembly footprint, accelerate technology development, and enable entry into new high-growth African markets.

The investment comes as electric mobility gains momentum across Africa, driven by rising fuel costs, urban population growth, and increasing demand for affordable transport solutions.

According to the company, riders using its electric motorcycles can reduce daily transport costs by up to 40%, translating to savings of as much as $2 per day compared to fossil-fuel alternatives.

Recent independent lifecycle assessments conducted in Kenya also highlight the environmental benefits of Spiro’s model. The study found that its electric bikes deliver a 72% reduction in climate impact compared to petrol motorcycles, alongside an estimated 19 tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided over a vehicle’s lifetime. It also recorded an 80% reduction in ozone depletion potential and a 20% drop in particulate matter emissions.

Expansion across Africa

Spiro currently operates across seven African markets, including Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon, with plans to expand into additional markets such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

The company operates manufacturing plants in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, as well as a battery recycling facility in Nigeria. It combines locally adapted vehicle design with a network of swap stations aimed at making electric mobility commercially viable at scale.

Backed by more than 150 engineers and over 30 patents, Spiro is also developing IoT-enabled, solar-powered swap stations and exploring secondary-use battery applications for renewable energy storage.