Electric motorcycle firm Spiro has raised $7 million (Sh903 million) in debt financing to speed up the rollout of its electric bike fleet and battery-swapping infrastructure in Kenya and other African markets. The funding was provided by climate-focused financier Nithio through its Facility for Adaptation, Inclusion and Resilience fund, which supports companies delivering household and productive energy solutions.
The financing will also strengthen Spiro’s working capital position. The company’s deputy country head for Kenya, Raymond Kitunga, said Spiro plans an aggressive expansion of its battery-swapping stations, dealer footprint and after-sales services. The firm currently operates 40 dealerships nationwide and aims to increase this number to 100 by the end of the year.
Spiro is active in 30 counties and plans to extend operations to all 47 counties by the end of 2026. Founded in 2022, the company is backed by Dubai-based investment firm Equitane and is headquartered in Dubai, with Nairobi serving as its main operational hub. Spiro bills itself as Africa’s largest electric mobility company, operating electric two-wheeler assembly plants and battery-swapping networks.
Beyond Kenya, the firm operates in Togo, Benin, Rwanda, Uganda and Nigeria, with more than 80,000 electric motorcycles in circulation and over 2,500 battery-swapping stations across its markets. Most of its bikes are used by commercial motorcycle taxi operators, commonly known as boda bodas, with the company estimating operating costs to be at least 30 percent lower than those of petrol-powered bikes.
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Spiro runs four assembly plants in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda. The motorcycles are assembled locally from knockdown kits imported from China, with some components sourced from India. According to Mr Kitunga, the Kenyan facility has an annual production capacity of up to 50,000 units, with about 30 percent of each bike’s value sourced locally.
Last year, Spiro raised $100 million (Sh12.9 billion) to scale up production in what it described as Africa’s largest capital raise in the electric mobility sector. The funding round was led by the Fund for Export Development in Africa, Afreximbank’s development arm.
Nithio, which operates in Kenya, Nigeria and the United States, runs a blended-finance platform combining commercial, development and philanthropic capital. Its backers include the Shell Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, FSD Africa and The Rise Fund. In Kenya, Nithio has previously financed firms such as SunCulture, d.light, M-KOPA and Sun King, all focused on expanding access to clean energy solutions.
