Spiro

Electric-motorbike startup Spiro bets on commuters' needs in increasingly congested African cities to grow its fleet of 14,000 electric two-wheelers. Founded in 2019, Spiro launched in Togo and Benin in 2022, followed by Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, last year. In Uganda, the e-bike and battery swapping provider has partnered with the government to replace its emission-heavy moto taxi fleet, known as boda-bodas, with electric two-wheelers. Spiro plans to double its fleet and be in 10 countries by the end of 2024, and scale up its presence in Nigeria. CEO Kaushik Burman, who previously led global expansion at Gogoro, the world's largest electric scooter and battery-swapping company, plans to launch Spiro’s proprietary ride hailing app CatchMoto to challenge Uber next month.