Spiro secures $55 million from China's NewTrails as it approaches a valuation of $1 billion.

      The challenging aspect of electrifying a motorcycle in Lagos or Nairobi was never the motorcycle itself, but rather the charging process. A rider who earns per trip cannot afford to wait for hours for a battery to charge, which is why Spiro established its business around battery swapping: arrive, exchange a depleted pack for a fully charged one, and ride off in the same time it takes to refuel with petrol.

      This model has recently attracted a Chinese investor, bringing Spiro closer to becoming one of Africa’s few billion-dollar startups. The company has secured an additional $55 million from NewTrails Capital, a Chinese firm, to enhance its battery-swapping network, manufacturing, and energy infrastructure in its existing markets.

      This funding follows closely behind a $215 million equity round supported by Impact Fund Denmark, Equitane, and Afreximbank’s FEDA, elevating Spiro’s total disclosed funding to approximately $557 million, one of the highest amounts raised by any electric mobility company on the continent.

      What NewTrails is investing in is more a network than merely a vehicle company. Spiro operates over 100,000 electric motorcycles and around 2,500 automated swap stations across seven countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The company characterizes itself as an “infrastructure-like business,” emphasizing that once a swap station is established, it generates consistent revenue similar to a toll road or power line. Yufan Zhang, a founding partner at NewTrails, framed the investment as a long-term commitment to Africa’s energy transition, rather than a short-term venture in the electric vehicle market.

      Spiro is not a small operation posing as a larger one. Founded in 2022 and located in Dubai, it evolved from Equitane, the investment platform of its chairman, Gagan Gupta. The company has established a technological base far from its markets, with a center in Pune, India, staffed by numerous engineers and holding a portfolio of patents.

      Part of the new investment is allocated for expansion into Malawi, Mali, and Ethiopia, markets that will significantly broaden its reach beyond its current territories. This follows a consistent series of fundraising efforts, including a $100 million equity round led by Afreximbank’s FEDA in October 2025, a $50 million debt facility earlier this year, the $215 million round in June, and now the NewTrails investment, showcasing the substantial capital requirement of a network of physical swap stations.

      The involvement of a Chinese investor adds more significance to the deal than just funding. China leads the supply chain critical for enabling battery swapping, from cells to swap station hardware, and Chinese investments have been steadily flowing into African infrastructure for the past two decades. A Chinese investor taking a stake in the company creating Africa’s swap network signifies the supply chain following the funds it already supplies. This moment aligns with the growing acceptance of battery swapping, previously viewed with skepticism in the West, finding its most compelling application in the high-mileage, two-wheel market that Spiro focuses on.

      This is a topic TNW has closely monitored, evaluating whether swap stations can achieve mainstream status and making the case that motorcycles might succeed where electric cars have struggled. China has been instrumental in promoting this model, keeping the technology relevant while car manufacturers in other countries abandoned it. Spiro's assertion is that the same rationale that supports a fleet in Hangzhou can be applied to a boda-boda in Kampala.

      While Spiro has not provided a specific valuation, the idea of "nearing unicorn status" is their own characterization rather than an official figure. What remains clear is the magnitude of the investment being made in African e-mobility, as well as the acknowledgment from a Chinese investor that the continent's largest swap network is a worthy asset to own. The motorcycles were always destined to be electric; the real question was who would create the supporting infrastructure, with the answer increasingly pointing towards Beijing.