BasiGo, an electric bus company active in Kenya and Rwanda, has secured $5 million in debt funding from the British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. In a departure from equity funding, where ownership is exchanged for capital, debt funding involves borrowing money that must be repaid under agreed-upon terms. BasiGo will utilize the funds to expand its electric bus assembly operations in Kenya, aiming to deliver a total of 100 buses within the country. Currently, the company has 19 buses operating on the streets of Nairobi, managed by various matatu (privately-owned mini-bus) companies.
Jonathan Green, the co-founder and chief financial officer of BasiGo, emphasized the transformative potential of electrifying public transport in Kenya, driven by the country’s abundant renewable energy resources.
BasiGo adopts a unique pay-as-you-drive model, offering its electric buses to matatu companies. Customers can choose to purchase an electric bus without a battery for a reduced upfront cost or opt for a pay-as-you-drive subscription, which includes battery lease coverage. This subscription also provides benefits such as free charging at BasiGo’s stations and maintenance. The K6 electric bus is initially priced at $35,600, with a subscription cost of $0.14 per kilometer.
In 2022, BasiGo successfully raised nearly $11 million. Within three months of its launch in Kenya, the company secured $4.3 million in seed funding, led by Novastar Ventures. This was followed by a further $6.6 million in equity funding in November 2022, with Novastar, Mobility54, and Trucks.vc leading the round. Additionally, BasiGo received a $1.5 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in November 2023 to support its pilot initiative in Kigali, Rwanda.
Founded in 2021 by Jit Bhattacharya and Jonathan Green, BasiGo aims to offer over 1,000 mass transit electric vehicles to Nairobi’s transportation operators in the next five years. The company will provide drivers with pay-as-you-drive credit options, along with maintenance and charging services, to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles.
BasiGo’s upcoming pilot program, set to launch next month, aligns with the efforts of Swedish-Kenyan EV firm Opibus, which recently introduced its first locally-manufactured electric bus in Kenya. Both companies target the mass transit industry, which is progressively transitioning to cleaner energy sources.
BasiGo plans to assemble its electric buses in-house, sourcing components from China’s BYD Automotive. These buses will be available in 25 and 36-seater configurations, boasting a range of approximately 250 kilometers. The recent announcement by the Kenyan government that its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network in Nairobi will exclusively operate green vehicles, including electric, hybrid, and biodiesel, presents a substantial business opportunity for EV manufacturers like Opibus and assemblers like BasiGo. Opibus, previously focused on converting gasoline and diesel vehicles to electric, is now expanding into the creation of new vehicles, including e-motorcycles.
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.