Opibus, an electric vehicle manufacturer, has announced that it has raised Ksh. 835 million ($7.5 million) in funding . The round was led by Silicon Valley fund At One Ventures and supported by Factor[e] Ventures and Ambo Ventures.
The investment is the largest ever in an electric mobility company in Sub-Saharan Africa and is aimed to scale its operations in electric motorcycle and bus manufacturing. It consists of Ksh. 557 million (USD 5 million) in equity and Ksh. 278 million (USD 2.5 million) in additional grants, totaling to Ksh. 835 million (USD 7.5 million). The investments will be used to prepare for scale up and mass manufacturing starting 2022.
Opibus, which has existing customers across 6 countries in Africa, is the leading provider of electric vehicles designed and manufactured locally. Its vision is to create reliable and cost effective products designed for the pan-African mass-market.
The company enables existing heavy commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks to be converted to electric, thereby reducing costs, resource use and giving the vehicles a second life.
Since it was founded in 2017, Opibus has over the years developed products in three main segments; electric motorcycles, electric public transport or commercial vehicles and charging and energy solutions. The focus is on creating a sustainable ecosystems for mass transport in Africa. The company was recently featured in National Geographic amongst VW, Tesla and Rivian for its contribution in the electric mobility industry.
“We are proud to be backed by globally recognized investors providing a balance between deep-tech and emerging market expertise. We have together reached a clear strategic and visionary alignment – with the conviction that mass manufacturing of electric mobility solutions in Africa will not only make the products more accessible and affordable, but also lead to one of the largest industrialization and welfare transitions of the region in modern time,” said Filip Gardler, CEO and co-founder of Opibus.
Open Capital Advisors was the exclusive financial advisor and Qap Legal Advisors was the legal advisor to Opibus on this transaction.