African electric mobility company Spiro has secured an additional $55 million equity investment from Chinese growth-stage investor NewTrails Capital, taking its latest funding round to $270 million and pushing the company closer to a $1 billion valuation.
The latest investment comes weeks after Spiro announced a $215 million raise backed by investors from Europe and Africa.
With the new funding, the company has completed one of the largest capital raises seen in Africa’s electric mobility sector.
Spiro founder Gagan Gupta said the funding round has lifted the company’s valuation to nearly $1 billion, bringing it close to joining the ranks of Africa’s unicorn startups.
The company said the new capital will support the expansion of its battery-swapping network, manufacturing operations and electric vehicle infrastructure across high-growth African markets.
Commenting on the investment, Gupta said: “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.”
NewTrails Capital said it sees long-term potential in Africa’s electric mobility market and believes Spiro has built a business model capable of scaling across the continent.
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.”
He added that Spiro’s strengths include its local operating experience, vertically integrated supply chain and ability to scale quickly across different markets.
The partnership is also expected to strengthen Spiro’s manufacturing and supply chain localisation efforts through closer collaboration with Chinese suppliers.
China is the world’s largest producer of batteries and electric vehicle components, making access to its supply chain increasingly important for companies expanding EV operations.
Founded to enhance electric mobility adoption across Africa, Spiro has grown rapidly in recent years. The company says it has deployed more than 100,000 electric motorcycles and built about 2,500 battery-swapping stations across seven African markets.
Its operations extend beyond vehicle deployment. Spiro runs manufacturing facilities in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, while also operating a battery recycling plant in Nigeria.
The company manages several parts of its value chain, including vehicles, batteries, swapping stations, payments and recycling.
The investment follows another major leadership move at the company. Earlier this month, Spiro appointed Anant Badjatya as Group Chief Executive Officer. Before joining Spiro, Badjatya led Indofast Energy in India, where he oversaw a battery-swapping network of more than 1,800 stations.
Spiro’s latest backers join a list of existing investors that includes FEDA, Impact Fund Denmark, Equitane, Nithio and the Africa Go Green Fund.
The new funding provides additional firepower as it expands its electric mobility network across Africa and strengthens its presence in a market that is attracting growing interest from global investors.
