African electric-mobility company Spiro has raised $215 million in equity, one of the largest single funding rounds yet for electric transport on the continent.
The round, announced on 1 June 2026, was backed by Impact Fund Denmark, Equitane, and the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the development finance arm of the African Export-Import Bank.
Battery swapping at scale
Spiro builds electric motorcycles and runs a battery-swapping network that lets riders exchange a depleted battery for a charged one in minutes, sidestepping the wait of plug-in charging. It operates in seven countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon.
The company has deployed 100,000 electric vehicles and 2,500 swap stations, with manufacturing plants in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda and a battery-recycling facility in Nigeria.
Across seven active markets, our deployment of 100,000 electric vehicles and 2,500 smart-swap stations has turned sustainable mobility into an affordable, everyday reality,” said Gagan Gupta, founder of Spiro and chairman of Equitane.
Where the money goes
Spiro said the capital will expand its swapping network, strengthen manufacturing and assembly, fund technology development and take it into new markets, naming the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia as next targets.
Petrol motorcycle taxis are a backbone of urban transport across much of Africa, and swapping rather than charging avoids both the upfront cost of a battery and the unreliability of grid power. Spiro says running one of its motorcycles can cut daily costs by up to 40%, or around $2 a day, compared to a fossil-fuel equivalent.
The raise adds to a growing pool of capital chasing Africa’s two-wheeler electrification, where operators such as Max.ng are racing to put more electric vehicles on the road.
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