Electric motorcycles only make economic sense for commercial riders if they can stay on the road. Nairobi-based ARC Ride is building its business around that constraint, pairing electric bikes with a network where riders swap depleted batteries for charged ones.

The company secured $33.3 million in new financing announced in September 2026. Novastar Ventures and Norrsken22 led the round, with participation from IFC, British International Investment (BII), Proparco, Musashi Seimitsu and Talanton. The package also included debt support from BII’s Kinetic programme and Mirova, according to reporting by The Condia.

Battery access as a service

Instead of requiring riders to buy a battery outright or wait for a long recharge, ARC Ride’s model gives them access to battery-swapping infrastructure. The approach is designed to reduce the upfront cost of adopting an electric motorcycle and limit downtime for riders whose earnings depend on completing trips.

That infrastructure makes the financing story different from a typical software startup raise. The company needs capital not only to build its fleet but to install and operate physical swap points. Those assets must be used frequently enough to justify the investment, while keeping the service convenient for riders.

Scaling beyond a pilot

The new money is intended to expand the company’s battery-swapping network and electric transport services across Africa. That ambition will require adapting to different cities, regulations, electricity conditions and motorcycle markets. Each new location brings a network-design challenge: stations must be close enough to make swapping practical, with enough riders using them to sustain operations.

For cities, electric two-wheelers can be one part of cleaner transport, but the benefits depend on how electricity is generated, how batteries are managed and whether the service can compete on reliability and total cost. ARC Ride’s next phase will show whether the battery-as-a-service model can scale as durable urban infrastructure rather than remain a promising niche.

Source: The Condia’s report on ARC Ride’s financing.