You know that viral meme of a man trying—and failing—to carry more cash than he can physically hold? Spiro might relate. The Nairobi-based electric mobility (e-mobility) startup is becoming the literal embodiment of that meme—except, in its case, it seems comfortable handling all that haul.
On Monday, the company raised $215 million in equity funding, with backing from Equitane, the investment firm founded by Indian entrepreneur and Spiro founder Gagan Gupta, and Impact Fund Denmark.
If nobody was keeping count, we were; Spiro has now raised $365 million in total debt and equity funding in the last nine months alone, a massive overhaul that now puts the e-bike manufacturer at a near-$1 billion valuation, Gupta told Bloomberg.Â
Why is the company raising so much money? Spiro is no longer just selling e-bikes; it already controls half of that market in Kenya. It wants to embed itself deeply in the manufacturing process.Â
Historically, the e-mobility startup has imported partially assembled vehicle frames and components from partners like Horwin and assembled them into motorcycles tailored for African roads. But its acquisition of UK-based Coexlion in May suggests a bigger ambition: moving into ground-up manufacturing, where it can control everything from vehicle design to key components.Â
That shift would give Spiro more than production capacity. It would create a stronger moat built on proprietary technology, lower manufacturing costs, and tighter control of its supply chain. Combined with its growing battery-swapping network across seven markets, that strategy could make Spiro harder for rivals to replicate and help explain why investors continue to back the company with ever-larger cheques.
With that new ambition, Spiro needs a lot more money than it has probably ever raised. Equitane’s participation also suggests that one of Spiro’s closest insiders believes the company is ready for its next phase of growth. The investment firm is deploying fresh capital to support Spiro’s manufacturing ambitions in Africa.Â
Zoom out: In January, Equitane backed MAX, a Nigerian e-mobility startup, in a $24 million funding round, showing that the Gupta-founded asset manager is casting a wider net across Africa’s electric mobility sector.