ARC Ride, a Kenyan electric mobility startup, has raised $33.3 million in asset-backed debt and equity to expand its battery-swapping network and electric motorcycle fleet across Africa.

Novastar Ventures and Norrsken22 led the round, with participation from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), British International Investment (BII), and Proparco. Existing investors, including Japanese automotive supplier Musashi Seimitsu and African impact investor Talanton, also took part. The involvement of development finance institutions such as the IFC, BII, and Proparco reflects broader donor-backed efforts to accelerate clean transport adoption across African markets.

The raise comes as African EV companies race to build the charging and battery-swapping infrastructure required to support a rapidly growing fleet. Kenya's registered EVs jumped nearly 30-fold between 2022 and 2025, intensifying the effort to build out the infrastructure behind Africa's electric-mobility shift. Battery swapping has emerged as a favored approach for two- and three-wheelers on the continent because full charging networks remain sparse; riders can exchange depleted batteries at swap stations in minutes rather than waiting hours for a recharge, which matters for commercial riders whose income depends on time on the road.

ARC Ride said the new funding will be used to expand its operations in Kenya, add 5,000 electric motorcycles to its fleet, strengthen its battery infrastructure, and develop technologies such as automated battery swapping, smart charging, and renewable-energy integration. It will also support expansion into Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

"This funding reinforces our vision of building a robust, scalable energy and mobility network across Africa," said Jo Hurst Croft, founder of ARC Ride, in a statement. "Our ambition is to make electric mobility the default choice for riders across Africa by making it more accessible, more affordable and more practical than petrol alternatives. This funding allows us to scale the infrastructure required to support that transition and to do so at pace."

Founded in Nairobi in 2019, ARC Ride has built its business around electric two- and three-wheelers and the infrastructure needed to keep them running. The company designs and assembles electric two- and three-wheelers at its Nairobi assembly plant and also works with technology and manufacturing partners. In 2022, Musashi Seimitsu invested in ARC Ride and began collaborating with the company on its power train unit and on developing components for two- and three-wheelers. Local assembly is significant in markets like Kenya and South Africa, where domestic manufacturing can reduce exposure to import costs and align with policies favoring locally produced vehicles.

ARC Ride describes its batteries as open-architecture and interoperable, meaning they can potentially support multiple motorcycle brands and models. Its technology platform tracks vehicles and battery swaps across the network, and the company says its swap stations are also designed to run on solar power to reduce reliance on the grid — a design choice that addresses unreliable grid supply in many of its target markets.

"We back founders building category-defining platforms, and ARC Ride is exactly that," said Ngetha Waithaka, partner at Norrsken22. "Jo and the team have engineered a Battery-as-a-Service model whose technology, data, and network effects give it the potential to become the open standard the entire ecosystem plugs into. The unit economics are compelling, and the product is winning with riders. We are thrilled to partner with them as they scale."

In July, ARC Ride announced it had piloted in South Africa, where it is rolling out its battery-swapping model through the ARC Panther, an electric motorcycle the company says is designed for local conditions. It has been setting up infrastructure in Gauteng and has also completed a pilot in Cape Town. In a LinkedIn post in August, Hurst-Croft said the company had established an assembly plant in South Africa, built its first batch of motorcycles for the market, and cleared the regulatory requirements needed to begin operations.

ARC Ride enters a market where Spiro has already established itself as one of the biggest players in electric mobility. Spiro raised $215 million in June 2026 and an additional $55 million three weeks later, bringing its latest funding total to $270 million. ARC Ride will also compete with companies including Ampersand, Roam, and SUN Mobility, which is likewise expanding its battery-swapping network across Africa. ARC Ride's interoperable battery-swapping network could become an important differentiator as competition intensifies, and how quickly it can deploy swap stations and motorcycles across its five target markets will be a key measure of whether it can close the gap with better-funded rivals.