Sustainable investment firm, Mirova, has committed up to US$10 million five-year debt funding to ARC Ride, a Nairobi-based electric mobility startup, marking the French asset manager’s first electric vehicle deal in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The financing will support the deployment of more than 600 battery-swapping cabinets and 25,000 batteries.The deal comes just months after ARC Ride secured US$5 million from British International Investment to roll out 5,000 electric motorcycles and expand its swapping network.ARC Ride, founded in 2019, has positioned itself as a Battery-as-a-Service operator, assembling two-wheelers locally and offering riders access to automated battery exchange stations.
“With Mirova’s support, we’re not only scaling our operations in Kenya, we are laying the groundwork for a cleaner transport future across wider regions in Africa,” said Joseph Hurst-Croft, CEO at ARC Ride.
By reducing upfront costs and eliminating range anxiety, the company is targeting mass adoption in urban centers where motorbike taxis are integral to daily transport.
Each electric motorbike deployed is projected to cut roughly two metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to company estimates. The Kenyan transport sector accounts for about 13% of national greenhouse gas emissions, making e-mobility a focal point for both climate and development policy.
Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers with €33 billion in assets under management, structured the facility under its Gigaton Fund, which focuses on climate solutions in emerging markets. The Nairobi-based investment team played a role in structuring the deal, part of a blended-finance strategy to de-risk private capital.
“ARC Ride is redefining urban mobility in Africa through a scalable model that reduces emissions and improves livelihoods,” said Rim Azirar, Deputy Head of Emerging Market Energy Transition at Mirova.
Africa’s EV market, though still nascent, is expected to grow at a compound annual rate above 10% through 2029, driven by rising fuel costs, government incentives and falling technology prices.