Mobility firms raise $8.1m funding in July

August 21, 2025

From the newsletter 

Funding raised by Africa’s mobility and logistics companies totalled $8.1 million in July, according to data from Africa: The Big Deal. The amount, raised by 12 companies, is a sharp decline compared to the $27.8 million raised in June. It brings the total funding raised by mobility and logistics companies in the first seven months of 2025 to $119 million.

  • Last month, two firms raised a total of $6 million in debt, while equity funding totalled $1.1 million. Grant funding made a return for the first time since April, with five companies getting a grant of $0.2 million each, totaling $1 million.  

  • Cauris Finance was the top investor, making a loan of $5 million, while Powering Renewable Energy Opportunities (PREO) gave a $1 million grant. Other investors were FMO ($1 million), Launch Africa ($0.5 million), Waarde Capital ($0.5 million) and University of Michigan International Investment Fund ($0.1 million). 

More details

  • Ghana-based logistics and trade finance company Jetstream raised $5 million in debt from Cauris Finance, a private credit fund focused on Africa. It is the largest funding round in July, and marks Cauris’s third investment in Jetstream since 2022. Jetstream combines digital freight, customs, and trade finance tools to streamline cross-border trade. The company will use the new funding to scale across West Africa. 

  • Zembo, a Uganda-based electric motorcycle company,also received a loan of $1 million from Dutch development bank FMO. Zembo sells electric motorcycles to drivers directly and through third parties. It operates a battery-as-a-service model through a network of 29 battery-swap stations. The FMO loan will finance the acquisition of batteries and chargers. 

  • Five companies received a total of $1 million in grant funding from PREO, which is funded by UK aid via the Transforming Energy Access platform and the IKEA Foundation. Each company got $0.2 million. They are Kenya-based electric motorcycle companies Kiri EV, Stima Mobility and Ecobodaa, Benin’s battery swapping company ZED Motors and Ethiopia’s electric three-wheeler company S&Y Electrical Material. 

  • During the month, Kenya-based logistics tech startup Leta secured fresh strategic backing from Waarde Capital estimated at $0.5 million, joining a high-profile investor lineup that includes Speedinvest, Equator, and Google’s Africa Investment Fund. The backing marks continued momentum after Leta’s $5 million seed round in March.

  • Swyft, a Cameroon-based logistics tech startup, also received an estimated $0.1 million pre-seed investment from the University of Michigan International Investment Fund (IIF) to scale its B2B and B2C delivery services across Africa. Swyft, which specializes in first-to-last mile logistics, will use the funding to expand operations and enhance its tech platform. 

  • Nigeria-based mobility company Moove raised $0.5 million during the month in a venture round from Launch Africa. The company provides revenue-based vehicle financing and financial services to mobility entrepreneurs across ride-hailing, logistics, mass transit, and instant delivery platforms. Moove has so far facilitated 36 million trips across a fleet of 10,000 Moove-owned vehicles in 9 cities globally. 

Our take

  • The return of debt financing is encouraging, indicating more confidence from investors. We could see investors may increasingly prefer loans over equity, especially for asset-heavy businesses like EV companies and logistics firms where revenue streams are clearer. 

  • In the existing tough funding environment, the return of grants to electric mobility firms signals growing donor and development partner interest in supporting climate-friendly transport solutions that may still be too risky for commercial investors.

  • Overall funding to mobility and logistics companies has declined sharply in the last one year, reflecting the trend across the whole funding ecosystem. With this in mind, startups should focus less on rapid expansion and more on profitability, partnerships, and operational sustainability.