Electric-mobility company Spiro has partnered with Chinese electric two-wheeler maker Yadea as the African startup moves to expand its battery-swapping network and commercial EV operations following a $270 million funding round.
The partnership will see Yadea supply electric motorcycles and related products to Spiro, while the African company integrates them into its battery-swapping and energy infrastructure across its regional markets. The companies also plan to develop electric two-wheelers adapted to African road conditions and commercial use.
The deal brings together Yadea’s manufacturing capacity and research capabilities with Spiro’s network across seven African countries, as the companies target commercial riders, delivery operators, logistics companies and commuters.
Spiro said the partnership is intended to create a commercially sustainable electric-mobility platform capable of serving millions of riders across Africa.
“When we launched Spiro, our mission was to lay the energy and mobility foundation for Africa’s green transition,” Gagan Gupta, founder of Spiro and chairman of Equitane, said in a statement. “Our strategic partnership with Yadea is a major endorsement of our execution to date and opens fantastic opportunities to jointly pioneer the next era of electric mobility in emerging markets.”
Anant Badjatya, chief executive officer of Spiro, said the partnership would allow the company to deploy electric vehicles more quickly as demand for cleaner transport grows across Africa.
The agreement also strengthens the commercial relationship between Chinese EV manufacturers and Africa, where electric motorcycles are emerging as an alternative to gasoline-powered two-wheelers used extensively by delivery workers, informal businesses and other commercial operators.
Yadea will provide vehicles while Spiro will connect them to its battery-swapping infrastructure, allowing riders to replace depleted batteries with charged units rather than waiting for vehicles to recharge.
The companies said they will also work on customized two-wheeler platforms designed for local operating conditions and commercial applications.
Wang Jiazhong, senior vice president of Yadea Technology Group, said Africa represents a significant opportunity for zero-emission transportation and that the partnership combines Yadea’s technology with Spiro’s local infrastructure.
Yadea, founded in China, says it has sold more than 100 million electric vehicles in more than 100 countries. The company has 10 production facilities and more than 2,000 patents related to electric-vehicle technology.
The partnership comes after Spiro raised $270 million in its latest financing round, including an investment from Chinese fund NewTrails Capital. The funding is expected to support the company’s expansion as it builds an electric-mobility network centered on motorcycles and battery-swapping stations.
Spiro’s model is based on reducing the downtime associated with electric motorcycles by allowing riders to exchange batteries at dedicated stations within minutes. The company is seeking to build the infrastructure needed to make electric motorcycles commercially viable for high-frequency users in African cities.
The Yadea agreement gives Spiro access to a major global vehicle manufacturer as it seeks to scale that model across the continent.