Kenyan e-mobility startup BasiGo raises $3 million equity funding from CFAO Group

Kenyan e-mobility startup, BasiGo, has raised $3 million in an equity funding round.  This latest investment round was led by CFAO Group and supported by Mobility54, a product of a joint venture between Toyota and CFAO.

This is coming a few months after the electric bus company raised $6.5 million in late 2023. This includes a $5 million debt financing deal with British International Investment to manufacture 100 electric buses specifically designed for the Kenyan market. It also includes a $ 1.5 million grant from USAID in November 2023 to scale up its Rwanda operations.

Speaking about the new raise, the company said: We are proud to announce that BasiGo has secured USD 3 million investment from CFAO Group, owners of Africa’s largest automotive distribution network. BasiGo and Cogroup share a vision for a complete green energy value chain in Africa”, the company announced.

Basigo is powering e-mobility across East Africa

BasiGo launched its operations with its entry into Kenya in November 2021. This was after completing its first raise of $1 million in pre-seed funding. The company said it will provide 25 and 36-seater capacity buses ranging 250 kilometres. this, it said, will be enough to cater for daily round trips as it seeks to provide a clean energy alternative for the public transport industry in Kenya, which is currently dominated by fossil-fuel buses. 

The startup also announced its plans to sell its locally assembled electric buses using parts from China’s EV maker, BYD Automotive. It also developed a financing model to cater for the high acquisition cost of its vehicles. The model will allow its customers to purchase its EV buses at the price of their diesel equivalents while offsetting the balance through usage-based subscription fees.

“The cost of electric bus technology has come down dramatically over the last 10 years, to the point where electric buses can offer significant savings compared to fossil-fuel buses. Our goal is to help bus owners in Kenya realize these savings, and in the process, help Kenya become a global leader in sustainable public transport,” CEO and co-founder Jit Bhattacharya said at the time.

BasiGo made its entry into Rwanda in 2023. This follows the launch of BasiGo Rwanda Ltd, a new company tasked with helping the public transport system go electric. Aside from reducing carbon footprint, it was believed that the electric buses may be the solution to Rwanda’s public transport crisis. Rising fuel costs have forced many buses to be pulled off the roads, thus making public transport elusive to many.

The first batch of electric buses was made available in the country by October 2023 and the company said it hopes to have 200 buses running around the country by 2024. The initial fleet will undergo pilot testing with select transport operators in Kigali.

BasiGo also entered into a partnership with AC Mobility, a company offering smart transport solutions. Being a major player in the country’s public transport sector, any collaboration with the company is likely to yield positive returns. BasiGo noted that the partnership will enable it to fast-track Rwanda’s transition to electric mobility. 

To make the buses affordable to potential partners, BasiGo confirmed plans to offer a Pay-As-You-Drive financing scheme. To this end, both companies and some major public bus operators signed letters of intent for the pilot phase which was started in October 2023.

Commenting on the expansion into another East African market, BasiGo CEO and Co-Founder, Jit Bhattacharya said at the time that Rwanda was one of the countries with a conducive environment for electric mobility.

This new CFAO funding positions BasiGo to become a major player in providing clean and sustainable public transportation solutions across East Africa. The startup recently confirmed Moses Nderitu and Doreen Orishaba as Managing Directors for Kenya and Rwanda respectively.

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