In a move to expand production and other necessities, the Kenyan EV company, Roam, has secured $24 million in debt and equity.
The EV Company plans to scale up production, and fund research while investing in cost-efficient tools in the newly acquired 10,000 sqm facility.
However, Roam insists that it will also look into expanding local manufacturing capabilities to reduce excess importations and reorganizing the global and local supply network.
Roam managed to secure the $24 million investment in two categories. First was $14 million, a funding round organized by Equator Africa in conjunction with Renew Capital, One Small Planet, At One Ventures, TES Ventures, including, other private investors.
Then, a $10 million investment was provided to Roam by the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
The Roam Unifying Goals
According to the vice president of the Office of Development Credit DFC James Polan, the reason Roam could secure the debt facility is its goal for a cleaner environment, which aligns with DFC goals.
The EV manufacturer specializes in the design, development, and deployment of electric vehicles such as buses and motorcycles, while boasting of mitigating over 120,000 tons of carbon emission since its inception.
At this time, the Kenyan government is fully backing the growth of the electric vehicles in the country, expecting at least 5% of the cars on the road by 2025 to be fully electric then increase as the years go by.
However, this will not be cheap for the users as the price of the batteries and other structures needed are expensive.
On that note, Roam and its major competitor, BasiGo, are mandated to provide a cheaper transportation option for the citizens of Kenya and beyond. At the moment, Roam offers a flexible payment plan to its customers who have the option of owning the batteries. With this, the batteries can be charged at home while reducing the cost of operations.
Roam is also planning on increasing accessibility to motorcycle riders by establishing more Roam Hub stations in the country. These stations will serve as a charging dock, and customer and sales services where users can rent batteries for a period.