Meet Jit Bhattacharya, Co-founder of BasiGo and Pioneer of Electric Buses in Kenya

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Meet Jit Bhattacharya, Co-founder of BasiGo and Pioneer of Electric Buses in Kenya

                                                            JIT BHATTACHARYA PROFILE

Meet Jit Bhattacharya

Jit Bhattacharya is a clean energy entrepreneur and business executive widely credited as one of the pioneers of electric buses in Kenya.

As the co-founder and CEO of BasiGo, headquartered in Nairobi, he played a central role in launching the country’s first electric bus pilot program in March 2022, which introduced the first electric buses into passenger service in Kenya.

He co-founded BasiGo in 2021 with Jonathan Green, who serves as the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

The two set out to provide clean, electric public transport solutions in East Africa and to advance their mission of electrifying public transport across Africa.

Career

BasiGo was the first company to bring electric buses for public transport (“matatus”) to Kenyan roads. Jit pioneered the “Pay-As-You-Drive” financing model, enabling local bus operators to overcome the high upfront cost of electric buses by paying a mileage-based fee that covers charging and maintenance.

Under his leadership, BasiGo inaugurated Kenya’s first dedicated high-volume assembly line for electric buses at the Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers (KVM) plant in Thika, an important milestone in building a local e-mobility industry.

BasiGo brings together experts in electric vehicles, public transport, the power sector, asset finance, software, and data science.

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The company is committed to creating clean transport solutions that can scale to meet the urgency of the climate and environmental crisis, while also ensuring clean mobility is accessible and affordable for all. Socially, BasiGo aims to build inclusive employment opportunities across the ecosystem.

Beyond Kenya, BasiGo expanded its operations to Rwanda, launching its electric bus pilot program in December 2023. The company signed letters of intent with major Rwandan bus operators including Royal Express, Volcano Express, and Kigali Bus Service.

Today, BasiGo’s fleet has grown to 100 electric buses in Kenya and Rwanda, making it one of the largest e-bus fleets in operation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Education Background

Jit has been a leader in electric vehicle and lithium-ion battery technology for over 15 years. He previously served as CEO of Mission Motors, a Silicon Valley company developing high-performance EV technology. He later joined Apple’s Special Projects Group as a senior manager.

In 2017, he became Chief Technology Officer at Fenix International, one of Africa’s leading energy access companies, delivering modern energy systems to more than half a million rural homes in sub-Saharan Africa before its acquisition by ENGIE in 2019.

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Before co-founding BasiGo, Jit served as the Kenya-based Principal at Factor[e] Ventures, one of the first venture capital funds to invest in e-mobility in Africa.

He holds a Master’s in Engineering from Stanford University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of California, Berkeley.

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This post Meet Jit Bhattacharya, Co-founder of BasiGo and Pioneer of Electric Buses in Kenya first appeared on The Kenya Times ~ Trending, Breaking News and Videos and is written by Michael Owino