Spiro Acquires Coexlion to Build Africa-Specific EV Motorcycles

Kaushik Burman (Spiro CEO) and Thomas Llewellyn (Coexlion CEO)

Nairobi-based e-mobility startup Spiro has acquired Coexlion, a specialist engineering consultancy focused exclusively on electric two-wheelers and motorcycle development.

The acquisition follows Spiro’s US$100 million funding round announced in October 2025 and signals a strategic shift from distribution scale to product ownership and engineering control.

While Coexlion may not be widely known outside automotive engineering circles, its client portfolio includes global motorcycle brands such as Triumph and Hero, alongside EV-focused manufacturers including Ather Energy, Ola Electric, and Arc Vehicle.

The acquisition gives Spiro direct access to:

• EV drivetrain engineering
• Battery optimisation expertise
• Vehicle validation capabilities
• Supplier integration systems
• End-to-end motorcycle product development

More importantly, Coexlion brings patented modular electric drive systems specifically designed for electric two-wheelers — a critical capability as Africa’s EV adoption accelerates.

What Makes This Acquisition Strategically Important?

Spiro is no longer operating at startup scale.

The company now reports:

Metric	Spiro Scale (2026)
Electric motorcycles deployed	95,000+
Battery-swapping stations	2,500+
Battery swaps completed	30 million+
Kenya EV motorcycle market share (2025)	52%

At this level of deployment, the challenge shifts from sales growth to vehicle performance, durability, and localisation.

Most electric motorcycles currently operating across Africa are engineered primarily for Asian or European markets. These vehicles are often only minimally adapted for African operating conditions.

That creates structural performance gaps in areas such as:

• Rough road durability
• Dust and heat resistance
• Heavy-load performance
• Commercial rider usage intensity
• Battery efficiency under inconsistent infrastructure conditions

For motorcycle taxi riders — a sector that powers urban mobility across Kenya, Nigeria, Togo, Rwanda, Uganda, and Benin — vehicle uptime directly impacts daily income.

Spiro’s acquisition of Coexlion appears designed to solve precisely that problem.

How Will Spiro Use Coexlion’s Engineering Capabilities?

Spiro announced plans to establish a dedicated research and development (R&D) centre in Kenya following the acquisition.

The facility will allow the company to internalise:

• Vehicle concept design
• Battery sizing and optimisation
• Supplier validation
• Manufacturing engineering
• Product testing and homologation

This shifts Spiro from being primarily an e-mobility operator into a vertically integrated EV manufacturer with proprietary engineering capabilities.

The strategy mirrors a broader trend emerging across global mobility markets, where operators increasingly seek control over both hardware and infrastructure to improve economics and localisation.

Regional innovation ecosystems such as Hub71, ADGM, and NEOM have similarly prioritised mobility innovation, battery technology, and advanced manufacturing as part of long-term economic diversification agendas.

Why Is Africa Becoming a Critical EV Two-Wheeler Market?

Africa’s two-wheeler economy is one of the continent’s largest informal transport sectors.

According to industry estimates, motorcycle taxis account for millions of daily trips across East and West Africa, creating a strong commercial case for electric mobility adoption due to lower operating costs.

Key market drivers include:

EV Adoption Driver	Impact
Rising fuel prices	Improves EV cost competitiveness
Urban congestion	Increases demand for motorcycles
Lower maintenance costs	Reduces rider operating expenses
Battery swapping networks	Eliminates charging downtime
Government electrification policies	Accelerates adoption incentives

Battery swapping infrastructure is particularly important.

Unlike passenger EV markets in Europe or the Gulf, Africa’s commercial riders prioritise uptime over ownership features. Spiro’s network of over 2,500 swapping stations reduces charging delays and enables continuous vehicle operation.

This infrastructure-first approach has become one of the company’s strongest competitive advantages.

Could Spiro Become Africa’s First Purpose-Built EV Motorcycle Platform?

The acquisition suggests Spiro is moving beyond deployment scale toward platform ownership.

Rather than relying on imported vehicle architectures, the company is now building the engineering capability to design motorcycles specifically for African commercial mobility conditions.

That distinction matters.

Globally, successful EV manufacturers increasingly differentiate through proprietary hardware optimisation, battery integration, and software-enabled fleet management rather than pure vehicle assembly.

By integrating Coexlion’s engineering expertise with its existing operational data across millions of battery swaps, Spiro could gain a unique advantage in designing vehicles tailored for African rider behaviour and infrastructure realities.

The company’s next phase may therefore be less about importing electric motorcycles — and more about engineering Africa-native EV platforms from the ground up.

 

 

 

FAQ

1. What is Spiro?
Spiro is a Nairobi-based electric mobility company operating electric motorcycles and battery-swapping infrastructure across Africa. The company deployed over 95,000 electric motorcycles and completed more than 30 million battery swaps by 2026.

2. Who is Coexlion?
Coexlion is an engineering consultancy specialising in electric two-wheelers and motorcycle development. The firm has offices in the United Kingdom and Bangalore, India, and has worked with companies including Triumph, Hero, Ather Energy, Ola Electric, and Arc Vehicle.

3. Why did Spiro acquire Coexlion?
Spiro acquired Coexlion to strengthen its in-house EV engineering and product development capabilities, enabling the company to design motorcycles better suited for African operating conditions.

4. What challenges do EV motorcycles face in Africa?
Electric motorcycles in Africa must handle rough roads, heat, dust, heavy payloads, and intensive commercial usage. Many imported EV models are not originally designed for these conditions.

5. What is battery swapping?
Battery swapping allows EV riders to exchange depleted batteries for fully charged ones at dedicated stations instead of waiting for vehicles to recharge. This reduces downtime and improves vehicle utilisation rates.