Spiro acquires Coexlion to build Africa-focused EV R&D centre in Kenya
What's the deal? Spiro, the Nairobi-based e-mobility startup, has acquired Coexlion, a specialist engineering consultancy focused on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, with offices in the UK and Bangalore, India. Spiro, which raised $100M in October 2025, announced the deal on X. It also plans to build a dedicated research and development centre in Kenya.
Coexlion has worked with clients ranging from Triumph to Hero and has direct experience building vehicles for EV-only manufacturers including Ather Energy, Ola, and Arc. Its work spans the entire product development cycle — from battery sizing and concept design through to supplier selection, production validation, and final assembly. It also holds patents on a modular drive system for electric two-wheelers.
Why now? Spiro has 95,000 electric motorcycles deployed across Africa, over 2,500 battery-swapping stations, and more than 30M battery swaps completed. In Kenya alone, it captured 52% of new electric motorbike sales in 2025.
At that scale, the challenge shifts from selling motorcycles to making sure they're built for the roads they actually ride on. Most EVs deployed in Africa are designed elsewhere and adapted minimally — if at all — for local conditions. Rough terrain, dust, heat, and the weight demands of motorcycle taxi work aren't factors that vehicles engineered for European or Asian markets naturally account for.
What could go wrong? Integrating a UK- and India-based consultancy into a Kenya-centred R&D operation is no small task. Spiro will need to retain Coexlion's engineering talent while redirecting its focus toward Africa-specific design problems — a market the consultancy hasn't primarily served before.
Building vehicles purpose-designed for African conditions also means longer development cycles and higher upfront costs, with no guarantee that the resulting products will justify the investment at scale.
The signal: This is less a prestige acquisition and more an engineering one. Africa's largest e-mobility operator is betting that owning the full design and validation capability in-house — rather than importing and adapting foreign-built vehicles — is the path to long-term dominance. The continent's EV market is maturing past the point where off-the-shelf imports suffice. The companies that win will be the ones that build for local realities from the ground up.
Read more: techcabal.beehiiv.com
