ARC Ride has secured US$33.3 million in combined equity and debt financing to expand its electric mobility operations across Africa, providing fresh capital for the company to grow its fleet and battery swapping network across several key markets.

The Series A was led by Novastar Ventures and Norrsken22, with participation from IFC, British International Investment, Proparco and existing investors Musashi Seimitsu and Talanton. The financing also includes debt from BII’s Kinetic programme and Mirova, bringing together different forms of capital to support both business growth and physical asset deployment.

Scaling Electric Motorcycles

ARC Ride plans to use the financing to deploy 5,000 electric motorcycles and expand its battery swapping infrastructure across Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

The company’s model is built around Battery as a Service, allowing riders to access charged batteries through a network of swap stations rather than waiting for vehicles to recharge. For commercial riders, where vehicle utilisation directly affects income, reducing charging downtime can have a meaningful impact on the economics of electric mobility.

The expansion also comes as African cities increasingly look towards electric two wheelers as a way to reduce operating costs and emissions across high utilisation transport segments.

Why the Financing Structure Matters

What makes the transaction particularly interesting is the combination of equity and debt.

Equity provides ARC Ride with capital to expand the business, while debt can help finance the vehicles and infrastructure required to put that growth into operation. This combination is increasingly relevant for African mobility companies, where scaling often requires significant investment in physical assets alongside technology and operating capabilities.

Electric mobility also requires several parts of the ecosystem to develop together. More vehicles require more charging or swapping infrastructure, while riders need financing and affordable access to the energy required to keep those vehicles operating.

Building a Scalable Mobility Model

ARC Ride’s expansion illustrates how electric mobility businesses are moving beyond simply introducing electric vehicles into African markets.

The underlying infrastructure and financing model can be just as important as the vehicle itself. Battery swapping can improve utilisation, while a service based approach can reduce some of the upfront barriers for riders who depend on their motorcycles for income.

As these models mature, the ability to combine fleet financing, energy infrastructure and operational scale will become increasingly important for companies competing in Africa’s growing electric mobility market.

The Broader Market Signal

The size and composition of the financing also demonstrate increasing institutional interest in Africa’s electric mobility transition.

The participation of development finance institutions and specialist investors alongside venture capital investors and strategic investors reflects a market that increasingly requires different forms of capital at different stages of development.

For companies operating in capital intensive sectors such as mobility, this type of financing can provide a pathway to scale that pure venture capital alone may not be able to support.

ARC Ride’s latest round is therefore not only a funding milestone for the company. It is another indication that Africa’s electric mobility ecosystem is developing towards larger fleets, more extensive energy infrastructure and increasingly sophisticated financing models.

Congratulations to the ARC Ride team and its investors on this significant milestone.