Editor’s note: African-Startups is a sister publication of EU-Startups, bringing trusted coverage of startups, venture capital, and innovation across Africa.
Africa’s largest electric vehicle (EV) company, Spiro, has secured an additional $55 million investment from NewTrails Capital, a Chinese growth-stage fund focused on emerging markets. The new capital brings its latest funding round to a close at $270 million. The deal edges Spiro toward unicorn status, lifting its valuation to nearly $1 billion, as reported by Bloomberg.
The fresh capital will be used to accelerate the expansion of Spiro’s battery-swapping network, strengthen its manufacturing and supply chain localisation efforts across the continent, and advance its next-generation EV infrastructure in high-growth African markets.
With NewTrails Capital on its cap table, the African startup now counts a powerful consortium of global institutional and impact investors among its backers. In addition to NewTrails Capital, the round draws capital from Impact Fund Denmark, Equitane, and long-standing partner FEDA.
“I would like to thank NewTrails Capital for believing in Spiro’s model and supporting our unique tech, energy and innovation journey. Having deployed 100,000 electric vehicles and 2,500 smart-swap stations across seven active markets, Spiro has firmly moved past the proof-of-concept phase. Partnering with NewTrail Capital’s deeply experienced team marks a powerful new chapter for Spiro as we prepare for the next steps of our pan-African and international expansion,” said Gagan Gupta, founder of Spiro and Chairman of Equitane.
NewTrails Capital, with strategic offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Nigeria, aligns its investments with global growth corridors, including the Belt and Road Initiative. According to Spiro, the partnership will be particularly instrumental in supporting the company’s manufacturing localisation efforts on the continent, with Chinese suppliers playing a central role.
Yufan Zhang, Founding Partner of NewTrails Capital, said, “We believe Spiro is driving a profound ‘energy revolution’ across mobility use cases in Africa. This represents not only a vast and highly imaginative market opportunity, but also the potential to grow into an infrastructure-like business that creates meaningful commercial, social, and environmental value.”
“Spiro has systematically integrated vehicles, batteries, energy replenishment, payments, and service networks into a solution that is truly tailored to the needs of African users, effectively addressing long-standing structural pain points in the local market,” he added.
The NewTrails Capital deal follows Spiro’s $215 million equity round announced earlier this month, which was backed by Impact Fund Denmark alongside Equitane and FEDA. That round – which saw Impact Fund Denmark contribute $40 million through Danish pension funds – was earmarked for expanding Spiro’s battery-swapping network, growing its industrial and assembly footprint, and funding the company’s entry into new African markets, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.
As part of its broader strategy, Spiro also recently acquired India-based Coexlion, a motorcycle engineering and design firm, and plans to open its first African R&D centre in Kenya.
Founded in 2014, the company currently operates across seven markets, including Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon, and has recorded over 30 million battery swaps to date.
The company claims its electric motorcycles reduce daily mobility costs by up to 40% compared to fossil-fuel alternatives, while an independent lifecycle assessment found a 72% reduction in climate impact for its bikes operating in Kenya.
“Spiro is still a young company, and everything today is only the beginning. We look forward to continuing to fulfill our role as a long-term investor, contributing our resources and experience, growing together with Spiro, and helping accelerate Africa’s new energy transition,” Zhang said in a statement.
