Zeno, a Nairobi-based maker of electric motorbikes, announced a $25m Series A on 5 March 2026. Chief executive and co-founder Michael Spencer told TechCrunch that about $20.5m of the total was an equity fundraise, led by Congruent Ventures with participation from Active Impact and Lowercarbon Capital. The remaining $4.5m is a debt facility from Camber Road and Trifecta Capital.
This article counts the $20.5m equity as the round's size, since the sources split equity from debt. No valuation was disclosed.
TechCrunch said the money will expand Zeno's app-controlled battery-swap network and produce more of its Emara motorcycles.
“Our focus from day one has been the right product first, then rigorous execution; being the best mover, not the first mover”Michael Spencer, co-founder and CEO, Zeno
What Zeno does
Zeno sells the Emara, an electric motorbike aimed at East Africa's bodaboda motorcycle-taxi riders, and runs a network of battery-swap stations. TechCrunch reported that the Emara has a range of about 100 kilometres on a charge and can carry up to 250 kilograms, and sells for about $1,300 without a battery and about $2,000 with one. Customers who skip the battery at purchase can subscribe to a monthly or pay-per-use plan and charge at home or at a swap station.
Zeno says its bikes cost 50% less to operate than petrol motorbikes. Launch Base Africa described the company as vertically integrated, with its own motorcycles, lithium-iron-phosphate battery systems, swap stations and a cloud-based operating system for battery performance and subscriptions. It said Spencer, a former Tesla engineer, founded the company in 2022.
Spencer told TechCrunch he drew inspiration from his previous employer Tesla and its first master plan, and said the idea has more legs and more room to run with lower hurdles in emerging markets.
Traction
TechCrunch reported that since emerging from stealth a year and a half earlier Zeno had built more than 800 Emara bikes and set up more than 150 charging locations across four cities in Kenya and Uganda. The company said more than 25,000 retail and fleet customers were waiting for a bike and that it was producing about 70 to 80 per week. The new round is meant to help fill that demand.
Zeno also plans a battery dock that homes and businesses could use to power lights and appliances. TechCrunch said it was still in prototype, with about a dozen customers testing it. Launch Base Africa reported that the company plans to deepen its presence in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and consider entering the Indian market later in the year; TechCrunch did not report those plans.
Investors and context
Gray Robinson, a partner at Congruent Ventures, said in the Launch Base Africa report that Zeno's solution satisfies commercial performance requirements and that he believes the company has the platform and team required to achieve rapid scale.
Launch Base Africa called the raise an outlier in 2026, at a time when funding for early-stage African e-mobility companies has largely dried up, and described competitor Spiro as the volume leader with Zeno positioning itself as the more technologically advanced option.
Zeno's previous round was a $9.5m seed led by Lowercarbon and Toyota Ventures, raised in 2024. The sources reviewed did not report headcount.
Company website: zenomobility.com