The archive · Climate & Energy · Strategic decision · 2017–2024
Roam bets Kenya's boda bodas and buses go electric; $24M Series A funds local assembly
Started as Opibus converting Land Cruisers to electric, then bet locally designed and assembled motorcycles and buses could electrify East African transport.
Roam (formerly Opibus)
What the business is
Designs and assembles electric motorcycles (Roam Air) and mass-transit buses (Roam Move, Roam Rapid) in Kenya, with swappable batteries, charging infrastructure and a fleet of converted commercial vehicles.
Starting capital：$5M equity plus $2.5M in grants in the 2021 pre-Series A, after earlier angel funding
How it started
Founded in 2017 as Opibus by Filip Gardler, Filip Lövström and Mikael Gånge, a Swedish-Kenyan team. It became the first company in Kenya to commercially convert diesel and gasoline vehicles to electric, retrofitting 170 vehicles for mining companies and tour firms, before concluding that conversions could not scale fast enough for motorcycles and deciding to design and manufacture its own vehicles instead.
What happened
In November 2021 Opibus raised a $7.5M pre-Series A — $5M equity led by At One Ventures with Factor[e] Ventures and Ambo Ventures, plus $2.5M in grants — and shifted to mass production, taking pre-orders for electric motorcycles starting at $1,300 and claiming operating costs up to 60% lower than petrol alternatives. It rebranded as Roam in April 2022, launched the Roam Air motorcycle with two swappable battery packs, and in September 2023 launched the Roam Move: a 42-seater bus with a 200km range, assembled in Kenya from Chinese parts, priced at $135,000, with 50 orders booked. In February 2024 it raised a $24M Series A — $14M equity led by Equator with At One Ventures, TES Ventures, Renew Capital, The World We Want and One Small Planet, plus a $10M debt commitment from the US DFC.
How it ended up
Still running and scaling: after the Series A, Roam aimed for production of 1,000 motorcycles a month, ran East Africa's largest electric motorcycle plant at its ROAM Park facility, and targeted output of 50,000 units a year.
Background
Roam's bet was that Kenya's petrol-powered transport — the boda boda motorcycle taxis and matatu buses that move most of East Africa — would switch to electric if vehicles were designed, assembled and priced for local conditions instead of imported. Founded in 2017 as Opibus by a Swedish-Kenyan team, it started as Kenya's first commercial electric-vehicle conversion business, retrofitting 170 diesel and petrol vehicles before concluding that conversions could not scale fast enough for motorcycles.
In November 2021 Opibus raised a $7.5M pre-Series A and shifted to mass production, taking pre-orders for electric motorcycles from $1,300. It rebranded as Roam in April 2022, launched the Roam Air motorcycle with swappable battery packs, and in September 2023 launched the Roam Move bus — a 42-seater with 200km range, assembled in Kenya from Chinese parts and priced at $135,000, with 50 orders booked. In February 2024 it raised a $24M Series A: $14M equity led by Equator, plus a $10M debt commitment from the US DFC.
After the Series A, Roam targeted production of 1,000 motorcycles a month and ran East Africa's largest electric motorcycle plant, claiming over 120,000 tonnes of carbon captured or mitigated across Africa. The bet remains live, with Kenya's government pushing EV adoption through tax measures while grid, charging and cost challenges continue to slow the continent-wide transition.
What has to be true
- Boda bodas and matatus are Africa's default transport, so electrifying them addressed a huge market rather than a niche.
- Retrofitting could not scale fast enough for motorcycles, so Roam designed its own bikes and buses from the ground up with in-house powertrains.
- Swappable batteries, home charging and high ground clearance were designed for Kenyan conditions that imported EVs ignored.
- Fuel savings of up to 60% on operating costs gave riders and operators a financial reason to switch, not just an environmental one.
- Equator, DFC and climate VCs funded local assembly, letting Roam own more of the design and cut supplier margins.
What can be applied
Conversions proved demand but not scale: Roam shifted to designing and assembling vehicles locally, betting Africa-specific EVs priced for local use could beat imported petrol on operating cost.
Aftermath
As of February 2024 Roam was scaling production rather than seeking another round: it planned to reach 1,000 motorcycles a month, said it could assemble 40 Move buses a month at full capacity, and claimed over 120,000 tonnes of carbon captured or mitigated across Africa. The company remained a core player in Kenya's EV push, alongside competitors such as BasiGo and Ampersand, with Kenya's government zero-rating electric buses and exempting assembled motorcycles from excise duty.
Sources
- Roam raises $24M to scale electric vehicle production in Kenya
- EV conversion startup Opibus raises $7.5M to start bus and motorcycle mass production
- Roam unveils new EV bus model to tap Kenya's mass transit sector
- ROAM secures $24M in Series A funding to expand electric motorcycle and bus production
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