African Mobility Investment Network
MobilityX Ventures serves as the central point for investments into African e-mobility, bringing together various capital allocators active or interested in the ecosystem.
Our investment network collaborates on opportunities to enable the ecosystem to grow and scale, helping founders be capital efficient in their growth plans.
How we make investment decision
We understand that different segments of the mobility sector require different types of funding.
Electric 2-wheelers 🏍️ 3-wheelers 🛺, 4-wheelers 🚖, and e-buses 🚌 each have unique economic models and financing needs. By bringing strategic capital to these segments, we can accelerate adoption and scale across each segment.
Collaborative Capital
We work with the existing capital allocators to aligning their funding requirements and interest with the e-mobility technology within each geographic region in Africa.
Capital efficiency We analyse the funding requirements for asset acquisition and scaling for each investment and apply suitable capital options: asset financing, debt, equity and grants (first loss capital).
📈 We focus on scaling the African mobility ecosystem We recognise that the African e-mobility sector is approaching a pivotal need of consolidation and standardisation. Within the near future, we anticipate significant consolidation and aggregation in the market, particularly around:
- Commercial electric 2- & 3 wheeler charging infrastructure standardisation and form factors
- Electric minibus and e-bus assets and platforms
This presents both challenges and opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs.
We use and share standardised approaches and metrics, where possible, enabling the investment network members to better understand the market and make informed decisions.
We're positioned to catalyse growth and scale in the sector by:
Aggregating and analysing crucial data across the various EV and charging assets
Building a collaborative capital investment network to invest in scaling technologies
Sharing relevant dealflow and investment opportunities to the investment network
Sharing tech & market trends and insight about the ecosystem from a capital allocators perspective.
Asset Financing
Capital efficiency is key to scaling e-mobility solutions across African markets
Asset financing is crucial for the e-mobility ecosystem in Africa as it addresses the high upfront costs of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. By separating asset ownership from operations, asset financing allows operators to focus on growth without the capital burden of vehicle ownership.
The total cost of ownership for EVs is typically lower than internal combustion engines due to reduced operation and maintenance costs, but the higher initial purchase price remains a significant barrier to adoption. Asset financing bridges this gap by distributing costs over time, making EV assets more accessible.
Our asset financing model involves structured special purpose vehicles (SPVs) that enable capital allocators to invest in EV assets and charging infrastructure. The benefits of approach
- creates a more capital efficient operation that is asset light
- enables a increased gross margin (24%-45%) on revenue generated on the assets
- prevent founders from using equity capital for CapEx purchases, allowing them to deploy and attract equity more efficiently for growth and scaling.
Equity Investment
Leveraging technology to improve efficiency in urban transportation while addressing Africa's mobility infrastructure bottle necks.
Equity investment plays a vital role in the e-mobility ecosystem by providing the growth capital necessary for innovation, market expansion, and team building. MobilityX Ventures partners with VCs and Corporate VCs active and interested in African e-mobility and co-invests via an investment syndication - African Mobility Investment Syndicate
Our Investment Thesis - We believe in the power of technology and innovation to solve Africa's unique mobility challenges. Our investments focus on companies that are:
- Leveraging technology to improve accessibility, efficiency, and sustainability in transportation
- Addressing critical gaps in Africa's mobility vehicle and charging infrastructure
- Creating scalable and profitable solutions with potential for pan-African or global impact.
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We bring together equity investors into specific investments. We co-invest via our syndicates that can provide capital and strategic support to prepare for growth capital. Our equity investor partners understand the role that asset financing plays in the sector, making the equity investment case more attractive as it comes with a clear path to scaling the asset-heavy components of these businesses.
Grant Providers
Enabling founders to do test-and-fix iterations to reach viable revenue models without sacrificing their equity
Grant funding plays a crucial role in the African e-mobility ecosystem by de-risking early-stage innovation and supporting infrastructure development. Grants are particularly valuable for validating business models and providing ‘first loss’ capital develop functioning revenue models.
Growing an African e-mobility company is inherent with an infrastructure gap. Each founder needs to setup and grow their own foundation to enable the company to scale. Grant funding allows founder to preserve equity for later stages while:
- creating this foundation for future growth
- exploring and validating assumptions on the assets and revenue models
- acquire initial assets to test and validate
We partner with grant providers that need catalytic funding to reach commercial viability. We help align grant objectives with project outcomes, ensuring that grant capital is deployed effectively while preparing companies for their next raise. By strategically incorporating grant funding into capital stacks, we help startups leverage multiple funding sources for maximum impact, creating pathways from grant support to commercial investment.
All Resources
Details of Special interest projects supporting the ecosystem stakeholders
$39
List and calendar of African mobility-related events happening
$26
