Spiro, Africa’s electric mobility leader and battery swapping pioneer, today announced the raising of $50 million in debt funding from Afreximbank and two new investors Nithio and Africa Go Green Fund managed by Cygnum Capital. The new funding follows Spiro’s landmark $100 million investment in October 2025, which became Africa’s largest-ever electric mobility investment.
The new capital will support the continued expansion of Spiro’s industry-leading batteryswapping network across existing and new markets, while further advancing the company’s proprietary technology platform, including automated battery swaps, fast charging, and renewable energy integration.
“Demand for Spiro’s innovative, industry-leading battery swapping infrastructure continues to grow and is reshaping mobility in Africa by providing reliable, clean transportation options across the continent,” said Kaushik Burman, CEO of Spiro. “With strong financial backing and cutting-edge technology, Spiro is leading Africa’s transition to sustainable mobility. This new funding reinforces our vision of building a robust, scalable energy network tailored for Africa by Africans.”
“Spiro’s growth exemplifies the power of Made-in-Africa, for-Africa solutions,” said Gagan Gupta, Founder of Spiro. “By combining local insights with global best practices, we are creating a resilient, green energy ecosystem that supports economic development and climate goals. This funding empowers us to bring affordable clean energy and mobility to millions of Africans while deploying an industry leading energy infrastructure that will contribute meaningfully to a greener future in Africa.”
“Spiro has built a strong platform that is delivering tangible impact across multiple African markets; we are pleased to support the next phase of its growth as it scales critical clean mobility infrastructure,’’ said Laurène Aigrain, Managing Director of Africa Go Green Fund.
“This transaction reflects our commitment to backing commercially robust businesses that combine innovation with measurable environmental and social impact.”
“Spiro is one of the largest and fastest-growing players in the pan-African e-mobility market,” said Raghav Sachdeva, CIO of Nithio. “They have demonstrated that electric mobility can scale rapidly while delivering real economic value to riders and meaningful emissions reductions. We are proud to support Spiro’s continued growth and see e-mobility as a critical pillar of Africa’s clean energy transition.”
Spiro is operational in six countries—Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, Benin and Togo— with pilots underway in Cameroon and Tanzania. To date, Spiro has deployed more than 80,000 electric bikes, circulated over 300,000 batteries, completed more than 30 millionbattery swaps, established over 2,500 swap stations, and enabled more than one billion CO₂- free kilometres travelled.
The company remains committed to advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals related to clean energy, sustainable cities, and climate action.
“Driving Africa’s transition to electric mobility is central to how we view sustainable economic development across the continent,” said Oluranti Doherty, MD, Export
Development at Afreximbank. “By supporting Spiro, Afreximbank is committed to financing the future of sustainable African trade; we are promoting a green industrial value chain that keeps innovation at the forefront of a just energy transition.”
Spiro is Africa’s largest electric mobility company present in eight countries, operating the
continent’s most extensive and fastest growing network of battery-swapping for electric twowheel vehicles. With more than 80,000 electric motorcycles, over 2500 battery swapping stations and more than 30 million battery swaps to date, Spiro has achieved over one billion kilometres of low-carbon emissions travel, transforming mobility and economies through substituting expensive imported fossil fuel-based transportation with affordable, accessible and sustainable solutions. Through its expanding regional production network and
operational assembling facilities in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda, Spiro is committed to delivering electric vehicles made in Africa by Africans for Africa and the world.
Nithio is a climate fintech platform investing in clean-energy companies and supporting other
capital allocators with analytics to deploy climate finance that builds resilience. As an
investment manager of the Facility for Inclusion, Adaptation, and Resilience (FAIR), Nithio
finances companies that build climate resilience and support a just energy transition. Nithio
also advises investors, banks, and grant makers on allocating capital towards solutions that
enable adaptation to climate change and improve energy access. It is powered by the Risk
Analytics Engine, which combines customer repayment data, geospatial data, and AI to
standardise credit risk assessment and inform investment decisions, monitoring, and impact
tracking.
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution
mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade. For over 30 years, the Bank
has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the
transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialisation and intraregional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the
African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a PanAfrican Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union
(AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA.
Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank has set up a US$10 billion
Adjustment Fund to support countries effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of
December 2024, Afreximbank’s total assets and contingencies stood at over US$40.1 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$7.2 billion. Afreximbank has investment grade
ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), China Chengxin
International Credit Rating Co., Ltd (CCXI) (AAA), and Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR)
(A-). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its equity impact
fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance
management subsidiary, AfrexInsure (together, “the Group”).
Cygnum Capital Group is an investment bank and asset manager operating across frontier and emerging markets. Formerly known as Lion’s Head, which was founded in 2008, Cygnum Capital is now a global provider of tailored and innovative financial solutions to meet its clients’ diverse needs. Cygnum Capital uses long-term relationships, networks and local market understanding to deliver a best-in-class service.
With offices in London, Nairobi, Lagos, Dubai, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, Cygnum Capital’s dynamic team of 80 finance professionals provide deep sectoral expertise, a broad product offering, an asset management platform and the ability to leverage synergies between our corporate finance, asset management and advisory activities. Cygnum Capital manages seven pioneering funds: six debt funds including: (i) the African Local Currency Bond Fund (“ALCBF”), a groundbreaking investment vehicle established to support local currency capital markets, (ii) OffGrid Energy Access Fund (“OGEF”) which supports companies in off grid energy such as SHS and small- medium mini-grids, (iii) Facility for Energy Inclusion (“FEI”) which support companies that provide a range of renewable energy solutions such as medium – large minigrids, C&I and IPP with a maximum capacity of 25 MW, (iv) AfricaGoGreen (“AGG”) Fund which supports companies combating climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels through new technologies that increase energy efficiency, (v) the Universal Green Energy Access Programme (“UGEAP”), a co-investment and on-lending vehicle targeting distributed renewable energy investments in Africa, (vi) the Africa Agriculture Trade and Investment Fund (“AATIF”) ; and (v) a VC private equity fund E3 Low Carbon Economy Fund for Africa (“E3 LCEF”) which invests in climate-smart services, digital connectivity & Applications, low-carbon productivity enablers. Cygnum Capital Asset Management has over USD 1.3 billion of assets under management with investments in 34 African countries.
