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Kenyan electric mobility company ARC Ride has raised $33.3 million in a combined equity and debt financing round to expand its battery-swapping infrastructure and electric two- and three-wheeler operations across Africa.
The financing was led by Novastar Ventures and Norrsken22, with participation from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), British International Investment (BII) and Proparco. Existing investors Musashi Seimitsu, a Japanese automotive supplier, and African impact investor Talanton also provided additional capital. The round includes debt financing from BII’s Kinetic programme and Mirova.
“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,” said Jo Hurst-Croft, founder of ARC Ride.
Founded in Kenya in 2019 by Jo Hurst-Croft, ARC Ride operates a battery-as-a-service (BaaS) model that allows riders to use electric motorcycles without purchasing batteries outright.
Instead, riders can swap batteries at ARC Ride’s network of smart battery-swapping stations, helping lower upfront costs and reduce charging downtime.
ARC Ride plans to use the new funding to expand its operations in Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
The company has already launched in South Africa following a pilot in Cape Town, with a vehicle rollout underway in Gauteng. It also plans to expand its battery-swapping network and add 5,000 electric motorcycles to its fleet. In Kenya, ARC Ride will continue expanding across Nairobi and the western region.
The company sees battery-swapping infrastructure as a key requirement for accelerating electric vehicle adoption among commercial riders, particularly in markets where two- and three-wheelers are widely used for transportation and deliveries.
ARC Ride’s model combines electric motorcycles with a network of battery-swapping stations, allowing riders to replace depleted batteries rather than waiting for vehicles to recharge.
The company said its technology and infrastructure are designed to make electric mobility more accessible, affordable and practical than petrol-powered alternatives.
The latest financing gives ARC Ride additional capital to expand its fleet, battery-swapping network and operations across multiple African markets.
