Against the backdrop of UNGA Climate Week, Beyond Capital Ventures has announced a new investment in Ampersand E-Mobility, an electric motorcycle and transport energy solutions company based in Africa. Ampersand has made strides in offering East Africa’s substantial taxi motorcyclist community an economically competitive electric motorcycle with improved user experience, while requiring minimal adjustments from customers.
Ampersand’s triple-bottom-line approach makes it a standout in Beyond Capital’s portfolio, with significant environmental benefits, including the displacement of 2.5 tons of CO2 emissions annually for each motorcycle. On an individual level, customers save around $1,000 annually, leading to transformative changes in their lives. The investment from Beyond Capital Ventures has enabled Ampersand to scale up to 1,350 motorcycles on the road and a 36% gross margin. The company plans to expand further, potentially into other markets, as they embark on a rapid transition to electric mobility.
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This latest investment follows Ampersand’s prior funding from AlphaMundi Group (AMG), which injected $1 million into the company. AMG’s investment was aimed at supporting Ampersand’s mission to provide clean and affordable mobility solutions across East Africa. With AMG’s backing, Ampersand has been expanding its motorcycle fleet and battery swap stations in Rwanda and Kenya.
This investment adds to a series of previous financial boosts for Ampersand, including support from organizations like StartupBootcamp, FactorE Ventures, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, TotalEnergies Venture arm, the Rwanda Green Fund, USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures, Shell Foundation, the UK FCDO’s Frontier Technology Livestreaming fund, the New Zealand Government, and a loan from Blue Haven Initiative’s Catalytic Fund.
Daniel Silva, Investment Manager at AlphaMundi Group, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership with Ampersand, highlighting the company’s potential to provide motorcycle taxi and delivery drivers with an efficient and affordable income-generating asset while contributing to a more sustainable transportation future. Ampersand’s Founder and CEO, Josh Whale, emphasized the importance of electrifying East Africa’s motorcycle taxis in the wake of COP27, underlining the urgency of bold and innovative actions.
Ampersand, headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, stands as Africa’s premier integrated electric motorcycle and transport energy solution provider. Their business centers around a network of battery swap stations and a fleet of unique electric motorcycles, managed through a user-friendly app and software backend. Since their commercial launch in 2019, Ampersand’s electric motorbikes have covered over 20 million kilometers in 2022, leading to a 41% increase in daily income for motorcycle drivers and a substantial reduction in carbon emissions.
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AlphaMundi Group Ltd, the organization behind AMG’s investment in Ampersand, has been actively engaged in impact investing since its inception in 2008. They have invested over USD 110 million in 57 impact ventures in Latin America and Africa, primarily through the SocialAlpha and AlphaJiri impact investment funds. These investments span a range of debt and equity transactions and are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.
The AlphaJiri Investment Fund LP (Mauritius) represents their foray into debt, mezzanine, and equity investments with a focus on resilience and growth in impact ventures related to Sustainable Food and Renewable Energy sectors. It’s designed with a climate-smart and gender-lens orientation, primarily targeting East Africa. AlphaMundi’s broader commitment to sustainable development also extends through the AlphaMundi Foundation, which aims to bolster the long-term commercial viability of SMEs in Africa and Latin America through structured blended finance products and gender-lens investing for climate field building.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard