Spiro adds $55 million from NewTrails Capital, taking its round to $270 million

Spiro has raised an extra $55 million from NewTrails Capital, bringing its equity funding round to $270 million, Disrupt Africa reported on 23 June. The round was first reported at $215 million, backed by Impact Fund Denmark and Equitane.

The new investor

NewTrails Capital is a Chinese growth-stage fund that focuses on emerging markets. It has offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Nigeria, and Yufan Zhang is its founding partner. Equitane, which joined the earlier part of the round, is chaired by Spiro founder Gagan Gupta.

What Spiro does

Spiro makes electric two-wheelers and runs battery-swapping stations. Disrupt Africa describes it as Africa's largest electric mobility company and says it is based in Kenya. It has assembly facilities in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Togo, Cameroon and Benin, and seven active markets. Money from the original round was meant to expand the swap network, strengthen industrial and assembly operations, speed up technology development and open new high-growth African markets.

Traction

The company reports more than 95,000 electric motorcycles on the road, over 2,500 battery-swapping stations and more than 30 million battery swaps. Together these have delivered more than 1 billion kilometres of low-carbon travel. Gupta said: "Spiro has firmly moved past the proof-of-concept phase".

At a glance

• Company: Spiro
• Raised: $55 million extension
• Round: Equity, extension
• Investor: NewTrails Capital
• Round total: $270 million
• Based in: Kenya
• Markets: Seven active markets
• Key figure: More than 95,000 electric motorcycles