African electric-mobility platform Spiro has closed its latest funding round at $270 million after securing a $55 million investment from Chinese growth-stage fund NewTrails Capital. The deal extends a round backed by a group of institutional and impact investors and, the company says, will fund expansion of its battery-swapping network and manufacturing footprint across high-growth African markets. Spiro operates a battery-swapping network for electric two-wheelers and frames the raise as capital for its next phase of pan-African and international growth.
Highlights
- NewTrails Capital invested $55 million, closing Spiro’s latest round at $270 million.
- Spiro reports 100,000 electric motorcycles deployed across seven African markets.
- The network spans more than 2,500 battery-swapping stations and has logged over 30 million swaps to date.
- NewTrails Capital operates from Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Nigeria, with a focus on emerging markets.
Who Backed the Round
The $55 million from NewTrails Capital, a growth-stage fund focused on emerging markets, finalizes Spiro’s most recent equity round at $270 million. The company says the round draws on continued support from earlier backers including the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), Impact Fund Denmark, Equitane, Nithio, and the Africa Go Green Fund.
Founder Gagan Gupta, who also chairs Equitane, tied the raise to the scale Spiro has already reached. “Having deployed 100,000 electric vehicles and 2,500 smart-swap stations across seven active markets, Spiro has firmly moved past the proof-of-concept phase,” he said.
What the Capital Funds
Spiro plans to direct the new funding toward expanding its battery-swapping network, industrial operations, and EV infrastructure across the markets where it already operates. The company runs one of the larger battery-swapping networks for electric two-wheelers in Africa, a model that lets riders exchange depleted batteries at stations rather than waiting to recharge.
A portion of the partnership is aimed at manufacturing and supply-chain localization on the continent, the company says, particularly with Chinese suppliers. Yufan Zhang, Founding Partner of NewTrails Capital, pointed to that integration as part of the investment rationale: “Spiro’s core strengths lie in its deeply localized operating capabilities, vertically integrated supply chain, digitally enabled ecosystem, sound unit economics, and strong ability to scale rapidly.” The investment adds to a pattern of Chinese capital and supply chains moving into Africa’s energy-transition sector.
Spiro joins other operators scaling battery-swapping networks globally, and the raise lands as commercial EV activity continues to build across African markets.
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