Spiro Secures $55M Additional Backing from Chinese Investor NewTrails Capital
Spiro, one of Africa’s leading electric motorcycle and battery-swapping companies has secured an additional $55 million equity investment from NewTrails Capital, a Chinese growth-stage investment fund with strategic locations in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Nigeria.
The fresh capital brings the funding round Spiro announced earlier this month to $270 million, following a record $215 million equity raise disclosed three weeks ago, one of the largest funding rounds announced in Africa’s electric mobility sector.
With the latest commitment, Spiro’s total disclosed funding now stands at roughly $557 million, cementing its position among the continent’s most heavily backed electric mobility and energy companies.
As African economies push to reduce dependence on imported fuel, reinforce energy and industrial sovereignty and modernize urban transport systems, the closing of this round confirms that global investors are increasingly turning to scalable EV infrastructure platforms on the continent. The latest round consolidates backing from a wide consortium of global institutional and impact investors, including Impact Fund Denmark, Equitane, FEDA, Nithio, Afreximbank and the Africa Go Green Fund.
Already operating across seven of Africa’s fastest-growing urban markets, including Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria, Spiro says it will use the new capital to accelerate the expansion of its battery-swapping network, industrial footprint and next-generation EV infrastructure.
“I would like to thank NewTrails Capital for believing in Spiro’s model and supporting our unique tech, energy and innovation journey. Having deployed 100,000 electric vehicles and 2,500 smart-swap stations across seven active markets, Spiro has firmly moved past the proof-of-concept phase. Partnering with NewTrails Capital’s deeply experienced team marks a powerful new chapter for Spiro as we prepare for the next steps of our pan-African and international expansion,” said Gagan Gupta, founder of Spiro and chairman of Equitane.
Yufan Zhang, founding partner of NewTrails Capital, described Spiro as driving a profound “energy revolution” across mobility use cases in Africa, representing a vast market opportunity with the potential to grow into an infrastructure-like business that creates commercial, social and environmental value. Zhang pointed to Spiro’s deeply localized operating capabilities, vertically integrated supply chain, digitally enabled ecosystem and ability to scale rapidly as core strengths, noting that the company has integrated vehicles, batteries, energy replenishment, payments and service networks into a solution tailored to African users.
“As a Chinese fund committed to investing in Africa’s energy transition and green technology, we are also very encouraged to see Chinese supply chains and financing playing an increasingly important role in this process. Spiro is still a young company, and everything today is only the beginning. We look forward to continuing to fulfill our role as a long-term investor, contributing our resources and experience, growing together with Spiro, and helping accelerate Africa’s new energy transition,” Zhang said.
The investment deepens Spiro’s ties to Chinese investors and suppliers. The company has previously sourced batteries from Chinese manufacturers, including an $11.6 million supply deal with CBAK Energy Technology, and said in October 2025 that roughly a third of the value of its motorcycles is now produced locally. The partnership with NewTrails Capital will support Spiro’s ongoing manufacturing and supply chain localisation efforts on the continent, particularly with Chinese suppliers.
Founded in 2022 by Gupta, Spiro says it has deployed more than 100,000 electric vehicles and built over 2,500 battery-swapping stations across seven countries to date.
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