Electric Motorcycles: Nigerian firm MAX raises its funding round to $29 million

The Nigerian company MAX has increased its Series B3 funding round to $29 million with the entry of the American climate fund Nithio, according to Launch Base Africa on October 14, 2026, and TechTrends Kenya on October 16, 2026. The amount contributed by Nithio was not disclosed.

A daily subscription rather than credit

Founded in 2015 in Lagos, MAX leases electric vehicles, primarily two-wheeled transport, to drivers it calls its "Champions" in exchange for a daily subscription and with no initial deposit. The offering combines solar charging, battery swapping, fleet management, payments, and financing. The company operates in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon across about twenty cities, according to Launch Base Africa.

The figures presented

The network includes 288 battery cabinets spread across 143 swap points, including stations operated by its partners Spiro and Kofa, and 1 MWp of solar power that has produced more than 200,000 kWh to date. More than 380,000 battery swaps have been completed at a rate of nearly 77,000 per month, reports TechTrends. MAX also claims to have supported more than 60,000 drivers with a target of 250,000 by 2027, $56 million deployed in fleet financing with $44 million already repaid, and a business that has been profitable in Nigeria since January 2026, according to Launch Base Africa.

The company claims to reduce its drivers' energy and maintenance expenses by more than 40% compared to gasoline and to produce its electricity at a cost 50% lower than the Nigerian "Band A" grid tariff. TechTrends specifies that these are company statements and have not been independently verified.

"Nithio's investment validates the model we have built," said co-founder and CEO Adetayo Bamiduro, as quoted by TechTrends. For Nithio's Chief Investment Officer, Raghav Sachdeva, MAX is building "a scalable platform" for cleaner and more affordable mobility in Africa.

The primary challenge is daily income: driving a motorcycle taxi supports millions of West African households, and the price of fuel consumes a portion of their earnings every day. The funds are intended to be used for the deployment of motorcycles with manufacturers Spiro and NOVR, whose batteries promise more than 150 km of range, and for the expansion of swap points, particularly in Ghana with Kofa and TailG. The question that these funding rounds do not resolve remains: what portion of the vehicles, batteries, and cells will one day be assembled on the continent, rather than just financed and operated from Lagos.