Arc Ride, a Nairobi-founded electric motorcycle and battery-swapping company, announced on 8 September 2026 that it had raised $33.3m in a mix of equity and debt. Novastar Ventures and Norrsken22 led the round.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), British International Investment (BII) and Proparco, the French development finance institution, joined as equity investors. Existing investors Musashi Seimitsu, a Japanese automotive components supplier, and Talanton, an Africa-focused impact investor, also put in more money. The debt came from BII's Kinetic programme and Mirova, the sustainable investment manager affiliated with Natixis.
According to Proparco, as reported by African Sustainability Matters, the package is made up of a $23m Series A equity round and $10m of debt. The company did not disclose a valuation.
“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.”Joseph Hurst-Croft, Chief Executive, Arc Ride
What Arc Ride does
Arc Ride operates a battery-as-a-service model for electric two- and three-wheelers. Riders lease the battery instead of buying it with the vehicle, which lowers the upfront cost, and exchange a depleted battery for a charged one at automated swap stations instead of waiting for it to recharge.
The company presents itself as an infrastructure provider rather than a vehicle maker, and says its batteries are designed to work across different motorcycle brands, including those of the Chinese manufacturer Yadea, Launch Base Africa reported. Techeconomy reported that it also designs and assembles electric two- and three-wheelers at a plant in Nairobi, tracks motorcycles and battery swaps on its own software platform, and can run swap stations on solar power.
Arc Ride was founded in Kenya in 2019 by Joseph Hurst-Croft, its chief executive, according to Techeconomy and The Condia. Musashi Seimitsu invested in the company in 2022, Techeconomy reported, and the two have worked together on powertrain components.
What the money is for
Arc Ride said it would add 5,000 electric motorcycles to its fleet, strengthen battery lifecycle management, develop automated swap technology and renewable energy integration, and enter new markets. Beyond growing in Kenya, including Nairobi and the Western region, it plans to launch in Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
In South Africa the company has run a pilot in Cape Town and has started rolling out vehicles in Gauteng province. Techeconomy reported that Hurst-Croft said in August that Arc Ride had set up an assembly plant in the country and cleared the regulatory requirements to begin operating there.
Proparco estimated that the round would support more than 300 direct jobs and nearly 2,900 indirect jobs over time, and could avoid about 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, African Sustainability Matters reported.
A crowded market for battery swapping
Ngetha Waithaka, a partner at Norrsken22, said the team had built a model whose technology, data and network effects could make it an open standard for the wider ecosystem. Chris Chijiutomi, managing director and head of Africa at BII, said electric mobility was a key part of BII's climate investment strategy.
Arc Ride competes with other battery-swapping companies in Africa, including Ampersand in Rwanda and Spiro, which operates in several West African countries, according to Launch Base Africa. Techeconomy also named Roam and Ghana-based Kofa as rivals.
Electric motorcycles have spread quickly in Kenya. Techeconomy, citing industry data, reported that the country had fewer than 800 registered electric vehicles in 2022 and more than 35,000 by December 2025, with motorcycles making up about 95% of them.
Company website: arcrideglobal.com