Kenya’s EV startup, ARC ride secures $10 million from Mirova

Paris-based sustainability investment manager Mirova has invested $10 million in Kenyan electric mobility company ARC Ride, marking the fund’s first electric vehicle investment in Africa.

The funding is from Mirova’s $282 million Gigaton Fund, which invests in climate-centric opportunities in emerging markets. According to the investors, the fund will enable ARC Ride to expand its battery-swapping facility for electric motorbikes in Kenya’s urban centres.

It will use the funds to deploy more than 600 battery-swapping cabinets and ship 25,000 batteries nationwide. The growth will give motorcycle riders, locally known as boda bodas, access to electric motorbikes without spending high upfront prices or worrying about refuelling.

With ARC Ride’s Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model, riders exchange depleted batteries for fully charged new ones in minutes, reducing operating expenses and eliminating fuel spending.

Chief Executive Officer Joseph Hurst-Croft called the partnership a milestone in making electric mobility available, affordable, and sustainable across Africa.

Scaling battery-swapping to 100,000 riders

Now, ARC Ride will also be able to. scale up its operations to serve more than 100,000 riders in major cities like Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu. Each electric motorcycle is anticipated to cut approximately two tonnes of CO₂ annually, saving approximately 50,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year.

For local (boda boda) motorcyclists, who are low-income gig economy workers, going electric also translates into saving an estimated $1–2 a day in fuel costs and up to 40% on maintenance every year.

By lowering the upfront cost of EV ownership and avoiding range anxiety, the BaaS model makes electric mobility accessible to riders who had only relied on gasoline-powered motorcycles. With more battery-swapping stations, riders will feel more comfortable usng electric motorcycles.

The investment is a significant move to demonstrate that sustainable and scalable city transport solutions are possible in African cities and can benefit riders and the environment alike, Hurst-Croft added.

Growing investor confidence in Africa’s e-mobility sector

The deal reflects growing global interest in Africa’s electric mobility space, notably within the two-wheeler segment, which forms the majority of the transportation business in the majority of African cities.

Motorcycle taxis, or boda bodas, are a dominant form of transportation in urban centres such as Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu, and the transition to electric motorcycles presents both economic and ecological advantages.

Experts predict the market for electric motorcycles in Africa will increase at 10.6% yearly until 2029, providing a substantial opportunity for upstarts such as ARC Ride to rapidly expand and build a long-term foothold in the e-mobility space.

Read also: Kenyan e-mobility startup BasiGo raises $3 million equity funding from CFAO Group

No wonder East Africa emerged as the region with the highest venture funding in Africa in 2024, with 33% of the total $2.2 billion raised on the continent.

Behind the region’s impressive run is the rise of Kenyan startups, which raised $638 million, representing 88% of the region’s total and 29% of the continent’s total $2.2 billion.

Kenya’s emergence as the leading funding destination in Africa is owing mostly to the emergence of a robust climate technology sector that has since become the most viable and funded in the country. This is supported by organisations like the Kenya Climate Innovation Centre (KCIC), the Kenya Climate Ventures (KCV) and Octavia Carbon.

Notable raises include d.light’s $176 million securitisation facility in July, SunCulture’s oversubscribed $27.5 million series B funding round and Basigo’s $44.5 million series A funding targeted at delivering 1,000 e-buses across East Africa over the next three years.

With a combined $248 million in 2024, these three green/climate tech startups are responsible for roughly 39% of the total funding raised in Kenya in 2024. Indeed, climate tech startups have raised 44% of total funding in the East African country since 2019, amounting to about $1.5 billion.