Kenyan EV company Roam secured $24 million in Series A financing, including up to $10 million in debt from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), to develop electric motorbike and bus manufacturing.
At One Ventures, TES Ventures, Renew Capital, The World We Want, and One Small Planet invested in the round led by Equator, an Africa-focused climate innovation VC firm.
Roam is investing in its Move bus type, unveiled last year, months after opening a bigger motorbike assembly factory.
Albin Wilson, Roam chief product and strategy officer, stated, “The goal this year is to increase and get stability in production to meet demand.” We intend to produce 1,000 bikes a month to meet demand.
Roam’s hybrid system lets motorcycle riders charge their batteries at home or at exchange stations.
Roam had indicated it could produce 40 Move buses a month at full capacity. Kenya builds 42-seater, 200-kilometer-range buses utilizing Chinese components for schools and public transportation. Roam said substantial ground clearances make the buses suitable for local circumstances.
The firm plans to invest in research and tooling to vertically integrate its goods.
Instead of purchasing off-the-shelf components, we’re owning more designs. We already have 275 purchasing components, which allows us to decrease supplier margins and provide a cost-effective solution to the market, said Wilson.
Wilson, Filip Lövström, and Mikael Gnge founded Roam, which has been operating in Kenya’s electric transportation market since 2017. EV conversions were its specialty until 2021, when it switched to assembly with VC financing.
The business wants to increase manufacturing as Africa pushes for electric car adoption despite inadequate energy grids, limited charging infrastructure, and high EV purchase prices.
Despite hurdles, African EV entrepreneurs have led this slow change. BasiGo has pioneered commercial electric mass transport vehicles in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, enabling some operators to switch to greener alternatives.
Rwandan business Ampersand also serves the burgeoning EV industry in Rwanda and Kenya. Late last year, the business obtained $19.5 million in debt and equity capital to increase electric motorbike battery manufacturing and switching stations in the two East African nations.
Kiri EV, Arc Ride, eBee, Ampersand, Spiro, Kofa, Ecobodaa, and Stimaboda, startups, are creating new EV motorbike brands and a battery-swapping network in important African markets. These enterprises continue to attract investors, just as the African climate industry does.
