African electric mobility company Spiro has secured an additional $55 million investment from Chinese growth-stage fund NewTrails Capital, bringing its latest funding round to $270 million and pushing the startup to the brink of unicorn status.
The investment, announced on 22nd June 2026, lifts the company’s valuation to nearly $1 billion, according to Spiro founder Gagan Gupta. If achieved, Spiro would join the ranks of Africa’s few billion-dollar startups, a milestone that would cement its position as the continent’s most heavily funded electric mobility company.
NewTrails Capital, which has operations in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Nigeria, is buying into what Spiro founder Gagan Gupta describes as an “infrastructure-like business” rather than simply a vehicle company.
Spiro currently operates across seven African markets: Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The company has deployed more than 100,000 electric motorcycles and established over 2,500 battery-swapping stations, completing more than 30 million battery swaps to date.
The battery-swapping model allows riders to exchange depleted batteries for fully charged ones within minutes, eliminating lengthy charging times and helping commercial riders stay on the road. The company claims its electric motorcycles can reduce daily transport costs by up to 40 percent, translating to savings of as much as $2 per day compared to fossil-fuel alternatives.
The Chinese angle is significant. China dominates the supply chain for battery-swapping technology, from cells to swap-station hardware, and has kept the model alive when carmakers elsewhere abandoned it. A Chinese investor taking a stake in the company building Africa’s largest swap network signals that supply chains are following the money they already supply.
Yufan Zhang, Founding Partner of NewTrails Capital, framed the investment as a long-term bet on Africa’s energy transition rather than a quick play on an electric vehicle cycle.
“We believe Spiro is driving a profound ‘energy revolution’ across mobility use cases in Africa,” Zhang said. He pointed to the company’s deeply localised operating capabilities, vertically integrated supply chain, and digitally enabled ecosystem as the basis for the fund’s confidence.
Zhang added that the partnership will be instrumental in supporting Spiro’s manufacturing and supply chain localisation efforts, particularly with Chinese suppliers.
The new capital will be deployed to accelerate the expansion of Spiro’s battery-swapping network, industrial footprint, and integrated electric mobility ecosystem across its core African markets. The company plans to expand into Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo as demand for affordable urban transport solutions continues to rise.
Spiro already operates manufacturing facilities in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, as well as a battery recycling plant in Nigeria. The company says its operations support approximately 6,000 direct and indirect jobs across the continent.
Alongside the funding announcement, Spiro has appointed Anant Badjatya, former CEO of Indofast Energy, as its new Group Chief Executive Officer. Badjatya previously led one of India’s largest battery-swapping networks, overseeing the expansion of more than 1,800 swapping stations serving approximately 90,000 vehicles daily. His appointment is expected to bring operational expertise from India’s more mature battery-swapping ecosystem as Spiro scales across African markets.
“As Spiro is accelerating its mission to transform mobility across Africa through clean, affordable and accessible electric transportation solutions, Anant will consolidate the Group’s strategic initiatives and guide the company through its next chapter of growth and execution,” said Gagan Gupta, Founder and Chairman of Spiro.
The investment comes as electric mobility gains momentum across Africa, driven by rising fuel costs, urban population growth, and increasing demand for affordable transport solutions. According to the Global EV Outlook 2026, sales of electric two-wheelers in Africa grew from less than 1,000 in 2020 to around 70,000 in 2025, with Uganda emerging as one of the fastest-growing markets.
Uganda’s electric two-wheeler sales exceeded 30,000 in 2025, having risen sharply from a low base in 2024. “Key to growth was the rapid scale-up of financing programmes for 2W purchases, led by Kenya-headquartered Spiro, which reported a large rollout in 2025, supported by an expanding battery-swapping network,” the Global EV Outlook said.
