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Ghana-based energy tech company, Kofa, has secured $8.1 million in a pre-Series A funding round to expand its battery-swapping network across urban Africa.
The funding round was led by E3 Capital and Injaro Investment Advisors, with support from the Shell Foundation and the UK Government’s Transforming Energy Access platform (TEA). European investor Richard Thwaites, founder of Penso Power, also participated.
The funding will help Kofa grow into more cities in Ghana and Kenya while boosting its AI-powered battery platform.
Kofa Wants to Grow Its Battery-Swapping Infrastructure
Erik Nygard founded Kofa in 2022 to re-engineer how people access green energy. It has quickly expanded in Ghana and is influencing the change in the clean energy sector by providing reliable, clean energy.
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The platform helps manage millions of batteries efficiently, ensuring quick, clean, and reliable energy for motorcycles, homes, and small businesses. Today, the company carries out over 200 battery swaps daily, with a 99% success rate and an average swap time of under two minutes. Kofa’s service helps users save money on fuel and keeps businesses running smoothly.
Commenting on the recent funding, Erik Nygard, CEO and Founder of Kofa, said, “This funding validates our vision to transform urban Africa’s energy landscape, and we are committed to building the ecosystem necessary to make this a reality. The shift to cleaner energy, for both domestic and commercial use, goes beyond sustainability — it drives real economic impact, but for this transition to succeed, several key elements must come together.”
The company uses an innovative system to track usage, predict demand, and improve battery energy flow. Kofa also helps local manufacturers and works with partners like TailG to design electric motorcycles tailored to African users.
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How Kofa’s New Fund Will Be Deployed
The funding round, which comprised a mix of equity ($3.25 million), debt ($4.315 million), and $590,000 in grants, was led by E3 Capital and Injaro Investment Advisors. It was supported by the Shell Foundation, the UK Government’s Transforming Energy Access platform (TEA), and European investor Richard Thwaites, founder of Penso Power.
The funding will help Kofa expand to more cities in Ghana and Kenya while boosting its AI-powered battery platform. Furthermore, it will help the cleantech startup buy battery inventory and deploy new swap stations.
“In investing in Africa for over a decade, we have seen firsthand the evolution of Africa’s distributed renewable energy sector – and in particular the rise of electric mobility and battery technologies,” Andrew Darge, E3 Capital’s lead on the transaction, said in a press release. “Kofa stands out in having demonstrated a unique ability to build not just a product but an entire ecosystem to drive capital efficiency and create a compelling commercial opportunity for the adoption of clean energy at scale.”
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In 2024, the Shell Foundation and the TEA also backed the expansion of Kofa’s battery-swapping network in Ghana, its e-bike asset financing, research on the impact of Kofa’s multi-use battery technology, and operating expenses.
Jonathan Berman, CEO of Shell Foundation, said, “Shell Foundation supports solutions that raise incomes for everyday people in key sectors, while simultaneously lowering emissions. Kofa’s technology has huge potential for scale, and it is exciting to see this fundraise accelerate the expansion into new cities and national markets.”
Main Image: Kofa’s Team. Image Credit: Kofa
