Roam Electric Motorcycles 2
With an investment of EUR 165,000 new partner Roam will be able to increase delivery of the newly launched electric motorcycle Roam Air for taxi entrepreneurs in Kenya. This delivery concerns 80 completely new electric motorcycles that will help the same amount of entrepreneurs to grow their business in a sustainable way.
€165,000
5.50%
3 months
3 months
EUR
CurrencyAmount | €165,000 |
Interest | 5.50% |
Maturity | 3 months |
Repayments | 3 months |
Currency | EUR |
The project
About
Roam is a Swedish/Kenyan company that designs and develops electric mobility products for emerging markets, with a focus on electric motorcycles and electric buses for the East African market. The company started in 2017, and has since grown into an international team of 120 employees, with 40% women. Today, the company has an assembly facility for electric motorcycles in Nairobi, Kenya and a partnership with a local bus assembler for their co-designed electric buses. Tenor only 3 months!
Mission
Roam designs and develops electric vehicles for emerging markets, focusing on bringing suppliers, manufacturers, financiers and partners together to enable the deployment of reliable, connected and accessible electric vehicles.
Vision
Electrifying the African transport and energy system.
Use of Proceeds / Loan purpose
With a EUR 165,000 inventory facility, Roam will be able to increase delivery of the newly launched electric motorcycle Roam Air for motorcycle taxi entrepreneurs in Kenya. This facility will enable a large group of low income earners to faster access this product which in turn can increase their daily savings by more than 50%. The Roam Air is locally assembled and can be charged in private or public electricity outlets or used with swappable rental batteries, some of which will be operated by the company. Roam already has signed contracts with asset finance companies and distributors that will onboard the drivers and offer them a pay as you go solution over 12 to 18 months so they can start saving from day one.
Company name | Roam |
CEO | Filip Lövström |
Founded | 2018-03-01 |
Location | Nairobi |
Sector | Sustainable energy projects |
Turnover | €1,800,000 |
Employees | 120 |
Credit score | B |
Impact
Roam is leading the transition to electric vehicles in Africa with its locally designed and manufactured electric motorcycles and buses. Removing a petrol motorcycle from the road, and instead introducing an electric motorcycle, can offset as much as 1.67 tonnes of CO2 per motorcycle per year, calculated on the average driving pattern of motorcycle taxi entrepreneurs in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s estimated that Roam’s cumulative environmental impact over the next 5 years for all their products ( >1M tons CO2 by 2026) would account for 2% of Kenya’s 2030 GHG emission reduction target.
The company employs 100 people, of which 40% are female. Further, Roam expects to add more than 2,000 direct and indirect jobs to the market by 2024. Making electric motorcycles accessible solves a problem for a large group of young motorcycle taxi drivers. These entrepreneurs are typically low-income earners who struggle with rising petrol prices as well as the increasing unemployment rate. The pay-as-you-go services offered by Roam allow drivers to start saving from day one and increase their income by 50%.
SDGs impacted
With this project, you are contributing to the following Sustainable Development Goals:
1 - No Poverty
7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
8 - Decent work and economic growth
13 - Climate Action
Read more about the impact you can make through our platform and the SDGs on our impact page.
Related blog posts
You can read the introduction of Roam on Lendahand here.
- Read more about Roam in this blog post.
- Did you know that the motorcycle taxi sector creates many job opportunities in Africa? Read more about boda boda-drivers in Uganda here.
- With this investment 80 lives are improved