Three Kenyan investment firms are injecting $6.6m into mobility start-up BasiGo. The funding, recently secured in a fundraising round, will enable the company to begin commercial deliveries of its electric buses by 2023 in East Africa.
Mobility start-up BasiGo is determined to accelerate the green transition of urban transport in Kenya. The Nairobi-based company recently raised $6.6 million in a funding round involving several investment firms, including Keiki Capital, Trucks Venture Capital, Novastar Ventures, and mobility54. The venture capital firm operating in Africa under the aegis of Toyota Tsusho Corporation and the CFAO group (Corporation For Africa & Overseas) is investing USD 1 million in this operation.
BasiGo’s fundraising will first enable the launch of the first commercial deliveries of its electric buses to Public Service Operators (PSVs) from January 2023 in Kenya. The funds are also aimed at expanding the fast charging network and the local assembly of electric buses in other East African countries. This will contribute to the consolidation of the start-up’s scope of activity, which is “the import and sale of electric buses, the rental of batteries and the supply of charging stations”.
Conquering the electric vehicle market in East Africa
“We are honoured to join this group of investors to stop the climate crisis and build a more sustainable future through finance and innovation. With over 90% of Kenya’s electricity coming from renewable energy, BasiGo’s electric buses will transform public transport in East Africa and significantly reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on the roads,” says Jit Bhattacharya, BasiGo’s CEO.
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In the sub-region, BasiGo’s expansion plan will intersect with the strategies of other start-ups already active in the field of eco-mobility, such as Ampersand, whose electric motorbikes are already on the road in Nairobi and Kigali, Rwanda. There is also Zembo based in Kampala, Uganda. In November 2021, the start-up received funding worth $3 million from investment firms InfraCo Africa (of the Private Infrastructure Development Group, PIDG), DOB Equity and Mobility54. This trio has enabled Zembo to move forward with the assembly of its electric motorbikes using solar home systems, with an eye on the regional electric vehicle market.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
