When it comes to new energy vehicle startups, public attention has long focused on China, Europe, America and Southeast Asia. However, Africa has nurtured its own indigenous e-mobility benchmark. Founded in 2022, Spiro has grown into Africa’s largest electric mobility enterprise. By adopting a business model centered on electric two-wheelers and a large-scale battery-swapping network, the company is rapidly reshaping Africa’s traditional fuel-powered mobility landscape.
While Spiro is headquartered in Dubai and carries Middle Eastern corporate attributes, its core operations and technology center are located in Nairobi, Kenya, with its business market fully anchored in the African continent. It is a local mobility technology enterprise rooted in and serving Africa. From its inception, Spiro has set a clear localized development mission: to replace fuel-powered vehicles with locally manufactured electric vehicles, reduce African countries’ reliance on vehicle and energy imports, advocate low-carbon development, create local employment opportunities, and drive the dual growth of regional economy and green mobility.
Positioned as the “African version of Gogoro”, Spiro focuses on the battery-swapping track for electric two-wheelers by learning from mature industry benchmarks. The company boasts solid industrial genes from its early stage. Kaushik Burman, Spiro’s first CEO, is a former Gogoro executive who brought proven battery-swapping and mobility operation experience to the African market, laying a solid foundation for the company’s initial growth.
Spiro currently offers two core electric motorcycle models, precisely covering Africa’s two dominant mobility scenarios. The COMMANDO is a commercial model tailored for Africa’s mainstream boda-boda motorcycle taxi market, meeting the demands of high-intensity commercial operation with superior practicality. The CHAP-CHAP targets household travel, with hardware configurations optimized for Africa’s rugged road conditions to deliver outstanding durability and adaptability. Both models support 3-minute ultra-fast battery swapping, effectively eliminating range anxiety and solving the energy replenishment pain points of electric vehicles, perfectly matching local travel habits.
After years of intensive cultivation, Spiro has built Africa’s most extensive battery-swapping network for electric two-wheelers. According to official data, the company has deployed over 100,000 electric motorcycles and more than 2,500 battery swapping stations across the continent, accumulating over 30 million battery swaps to date. Featuring cost-effectiveness, convenient energy replenishment and sustainable operations, Spiro’s solutions are gradually replacing high-cost fuel-powered travel and accelerating the green transformation of mobility in Africa.
Spiro has recently achieved major strategic breakthroughs, securing 215 million US dollars in equity financing and completing a key senior management upgrade. The company has appointed Anant Badjatya as Group CEO to empower its pan-African expansion strategy.
Anant Badjatya is a seasoned veteran in the global battery-swapping industry. He previously served as CEO of Indofast Energy, India’s leading electric vehicle battery-swapping network operator. A joint venture established by Indian oil giant IOCL and leading battery-swapping technology firm SUN Mobility with equal 50% equity stakes, Indofast Energy specializes in battery-as-a-service (BaaS) and swapping solutions for two and three-wheel electric vehicles, widely known as the “Indian version of Gogoro”. During his tenure, Anant successfully built one of India’s largest battery-swapping networks, deploying over 1,800 swapping stations serving approximately 90,000 electric vehicles daily, accumulating rich experience in network construction, market operation and business expansion.
In his new role at Spiro, Anant Badjatya oversees the full-spectrum group businesses including battery swapping, vehicle leasing, logistics, energy operations and vehicle manufacturing, leading the company’s overall strategic planning and upgrading. Kaushik Burman, former head of Spiro’s mobility business, will continue to consolidate the company’s leading position and expand its fleet scale across the seven existing African markets.
Commenting on the management and strategic upgrade, Gagan Gupta, Founder and Chairman of Spiro, stated that Spiro is accelerating the reform of Africa’s mobility system through affordable, convenient and eco-friendly electric mobility solutions. Anant’s appointment will integrate the group’s strategic resources and drive the company into a new growth phase across mobility, energy and technology sectors.
Anant Badjatya expressed great optimism about the African market, noting that Africa represents the most dynamic and promising frontier market for electric mobility worldwide. He looks forward to collaborating with the team and partners to drive greater breakthroughs and leapfrog development for Spiro.
Driven by rising travel demand and the popularization of green energy, Africa’s electric two-wheeler market is booming with an annual growth rate exceeding 50%. Spiro now faces fierce competition from established Chinese brands such as Yadea and Tailg. Leveraging its localized battery-swapping ecosystem and road-adapted vehicle products and localized services, Spiro has built unique differentiated competitiveness. According to its development roadmap, Spiro plans to expand its business coverage to 20 African countries by 2027, further consolidating its leading position in Africa’s electric mobility industry.
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