BasiGo secures Ksh.804 million funding, to start deliveries to customers

Electric mobility company BasiGo has secured Ksh.804 million ($6.6 million) from Mobility54, a venture capital (VC) arm of Toyota Tsusho.

The new round of funding is set to enable the company to begin the commercial delivery of locally manufactured electric buses and charging infrastructure.

BasiGo has so far in 2022 received Ksh.1.3 billion ($10.9 million) in total funding.

The firm is expected to deliver 15 electric buses in January and will have all its scheduled 2023 bus deliveries locally assembled.

The company hopes to have at least 1000 electric buses deployed in Kenya by the end of 2025.

BasiGo deploys a pay-as-you-drive model which allows owners to purchase an electric bus at the equivalent upfront cost of a diesel bus.

Operators then pay BasiGo a Ksh.20 per kilometre subscription fee which also covers the leasing of the E-Bus battery that is charged, serviced and maintained by the company.

According to estimates by the company, bus operators in Nairobi are currently paying between Ksh.30 and Ksh.50 per kilometre for diesel fuel alone, making a case for the switch to electric buses.

“By electrifying Kenya’s public transport, we can make an immediate dent in climate emissions, clean up the air in our cities, and give bus owners relief from the rising cost of diesel. With this new funding, BasiGo is ready to bring the benefits of state-of-the-art electric transport to all people in Africa,” noted BasiGo CEO Jit Bhattacharya.

The company has already received over 100 reservations from matatu saccos since March 2022.

Besides Mobility54, other investors in BasiGo include Trucks VC.