ARC Ride secures $10m loan to fund expansion

September 21, 2025

From the newsletter

Kenyan EV company ARC Ride has secured a loan of $10 million from Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers. The loan marks Mirova Gigaton Fund’s first investment in Sub-Saharan Africa’s EV sector. The $10 million facility will fund over 600 battery-swapping cabinets and 25,000 batteries, structured as senior secured debt with a five-year tenor. 

  • Mirova’s loan is the second major funding ARC Ride received this year after a $5 million equity rasie from British International Investment (BII). Its aggregate haul is one of the highest raised by EV companies in Africa this year.   

  • ARC Ride is among the largest EV companies in Kenya, with more than 144 battery swapping cabinets. It had been lacking capital to build more cabinets to serve a growing number of electric motorcycle riders. 

More details

  • Mirova said the transaction leverages catalytic capital funding, in line with its blended finance approach to de-risk private capital. It said its local presence in Nairobi was instrumental in sourcing and structuring the deal, “enabling close collaboration with ARC Ride and the broader Kenyan mobility ecosystem”.

  • “This partnership with Mirova marks a major milestone in our mission to make electric mobility accessible, affordable, and sustainable across Africa. With Mirova’s support, we’re not only scaling our operations in Kenya, we are laying the groundwork for a cleaner transport future across wider regions in Africa,” said ARC Ride CEO Joseph Hurst-Croft. 

  • ARC Ride’s $10 million loan is the biggest debt raised by an EV firm in Africa this year. The last company to raise more than that was BasiGo, which raised a total of $27.5 million debt in 2024 in two separate funding rounds. Roam Electric and Moove also raised $10 million each in debt in the same year.

  • The company that has so far raised the most money from debt is Spiro, which sells electric motorcycles in eight African countries. The company raised $63 million in debt in 2023 followed by another $50 million loan in 2024. This has fueled its aggressive expansion in multiple markets.

  • Unlike most electric motorcycle companies, ARC Ride builds swapping cabinets instead of full-scale swapping stations. Swapping cabinets are much smaller, modular units, similar to vending machines. These cabinets are designed for smaller, lighter batteries used in two-wheelers like electric scooters and motorcycles. The user manually takes out their discharged battery and swaps it for a fully charged one from the cabinet. 

  • The company’s stated vision is to be the leading Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) infrastructure provider for electric two and three-wheel vehicles across Africa. but this is easier said than done especially as a growing number of electric motorcycle companies start to pivot from EV sales to BaaS. Ampersand, which operates in Kenya and Rwanda, is one such company. Other new startups are also emerging in the BaaS space, where margins are bigger compared to selling electric motorcycles. 

  • The battery swapping or BaaS model is growing quickly in Africa, and is primarily focused on two- and three-wheeled vehicles, such as electric motorcycles, bicycles and scooters. The business model addresses two major challenges: the high upfront cost of an EV since the battery is not purchased with the vehicle, and the unreliable electricity grid in many regions. Companies like Spiro are scaling in multiple markets following the initial success of the model. 

  • Some electric motorcycle companies like Roam Electric however believe that charging is the future. Roam sells its motorcycle with the battery, giving users full autonomy to charge anywhere. Other companies like Zeno are offering both models, including fast charging. The future of electric mobility in Africa is therefore going to be dominated not just by one model, but multiple models that complement each other.  

Our take

  • The substantial funding secured by ARC Ride from Mirova and BII will allow for a rapid expansion of its battery swapping cabinet network. This will directly address the critical issue of infrastructure scarcity, which has been a major bottleneck for EV adoption.

  • The market is unlikely to be dominated by a single model. Companies like Roam Electric champion charging, while ARC Ride focuses on swapping. The future will likely see a hybrid model where both charging and swapping infrastructure co-exist, catering to different user needs and preferences. 

  • Our analysis of recent funding rounds shows an increasing preference by investors for BaaS companies. This could be primarily due to the larger margins that these companies are enjoying. The trend is likely to continue as demand for EV swapping is only going to grow.