ARC Ride, a Kenyan company which provides electric two- and three-wheeler transport infrastructure, has attracted a fresh round of financing from a consortium of European and African venture capital investors, enabling it to expand across other African markets.
Two- and three-wheelers such as motorcycles and tuk-tuks play a key role in African transport infrastructure, accounting for some 70% of Kenya’s vehicle registrations. Across the continent, there are more than 7 million vehicles on the road, accounting for nearly a quarter of all motor vehicles in Africa.
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While motorcycle taxis, locally known as boda-boda's are nimble and affordable, filling key transport gaps, traditional motorcycles come with a significant carbon footprint. In Kenya, they burn nearly as much fuel as all cars combined.
ARC Ride is one of the firms attempting to tackle this challenge by building the infrastructure for Africa’s electric transport transition, focused on two- and three-wheeler mobility.
The firm operates a growing continental network of smart battery swapping stations, enabling riders to exchange depleted batteries for fully charged ones in minutes.
Jo Hurst Croft, founder of ARC Ride, said: “This funding reinforces our vision of building a robust, scalable energy and mobility network across Africa. Our ambition is to make electric mobility the default choice for riders across Africa by making it more accessible, more affordable and more practical than petrol alternatives. This funding allows us to scale the infrastructure required to support that transition and to do so at pace.”
The latest funding round was led by African VC investor Novastar Ventures and Stockholm-based Norrsken22, with IFC, British International Investment (BII) and Proparco joining as co-investors.
Existing investors Musashi Seimitsu, the Japanese Tier-1 automotive supplier, and Talanton, the African impact investor, also committed further capital in the round. The financing also included a debt facility from BII's Kinetic programme and Mirova.
