ARC Ride raises $33.3 million to expand battery swapping across Africa

ARC Ride, a Kenyan electric mobility company, has raised $33.3 million to expand its electric motorcycle fleet and battery-swapping network beyond Kenya. The funding is a mix of asset-backed debt and equity. Novastar Ventures and Norrsken22 led the round, with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), British International Investment (BII) and Proparco also participating. 

Existing investors, including Japanese automotive supplier Musashi Seimitsu and African investor Talanton, also put in more money. ARC Ride plans to use the funding to add 5,000 electric motorcycles to its fleet, expand its battery network in Kenya and enter Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. The company has been working on electric two- and three wheelers since 2019. Its business is built around battery swapping, where riders replace a depleted battery with a charged one instead of waiting for the motorcycle to charge. For riders who use motorcycles to make deliveries or carry passengers, that can make a difference. A motorcycle that is sitting at a charging point is not earning money.

Battery swapping is the main business

ARC Ride is building more than an electric motorcycle fleet. The company is also building the batteries and stations that riders need to keep those motorcycles running. It says its batteries are designed with an open architecture, allowing them to work with different motorcycle brands and models. That means ARC Ride could eventually have riders using its stations even if they are not riding an ARC motorcycle. The company has also developed software that tracks motorcycles and battery swaps across its network. 

It is working on automated battery swapping and smart charging, while some of its stations are designed to use solar power. The model only works if there are enough stations and charged batteries in the places where riders need them. A rider cannot swap a battery if the nearest station is too far away or does not have a charged battery available. That is why ARC Ride's expansion involves the motorcycles and the infrastructure around them.

Kenya is still the starting point

ARC Ride was founded in Nairobi in 2019 and assembles its electric two  and three wheelers at a plant in the city. Musashi Seimitsu invested in the company in 2022 and has worked with ARC Ride on its powertrain and components. Kenya has become one of the main markets for electric motorcycle companies in Africa. Motorcycles are widely used for commercial transport and deliveries, giving electric mobility companies a large group of potential customers. The number of registered electric vehicles in Kenya has also increased sharply in recent years. That creates more demand for charging and battery swapping infrastructure. But putting more electric motorcycles on the road also puts pressure on the infrastructure supporting them. Riders need to know that they can find a charged battery when they need one, particularly if the motorcycle is their source of income.

ARC Ride has already started in South Africa

South Africa is one of the markets where ARC Ride has already begun testing its model. In July, the company announced a pilot using the ARC Panther, an electric motorcycle it says was designed for local conditions. ARC Ride has been setting up battery swapping infrastructure in Gauteng and has also completed a pilot in Cape Town. In August, CEO Joseph Hurst Croft said the company had established an assembly plant in South Africa, produced its first batch of motorcycles for the local market and completed the regulatory requirements needed to begin operations. 

South Africa will give ARC Ride a different market to work with. Electric motorcycles are still a relatively small part of the country's vehicle market, and the role of motorcycles in transport is different from Kenya. The company will therefore have to find where its motorcycles and swapping stations fit into the local market.

There is already competition

ARC Ride is entering a market where several companies are already building electric motorcycle and battery businesses. Spiro raised $215 million in June 2026 and another $55 million later that month. Its two raises brought its latest funding total to $270 million. Other companies, including Ampersand, Roam and SUN Mobility, are also working on electric motorcycles, batteries and swapping infrastructure in African markets. ARC Ride's interoperable battery system is one way it is trying to stand out. If its batteries can work with several motorcycle models, the company could potentially serve more riders without having to sell every motorcycle itself. But that also means getting manufacturers and riders to use compatible systems.

More motorcycles will mean more batteries

The $33.3 million gives ARC Ride money to increase its fleet and build more of the infrastructure around it. The company plans to add 5,000 motorcycles, but each motorcycle needs batteries, swap stations and a system that can keep track of where those batteries are and whether they are charged. ARC Ride also has to do this while moving into four new countries. It has already spent several years building its business in Kenya and has started testing the model in South Africa. 

Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda will be new markets for the company. For ARC Ride, the immediate task is to get more motorcycles and swap stations operating. The bigger issue will be whether enough riders use those stations regularly for the network to make financial sense. That will determine whether battery swapping becomes a useful alternative to charging for electric motorcycle riders across the markets ARC Ride is targeting.