On.Capital invests in Solarbox Africa, an emerging leader in electric 3-Wheelers
25 May 2023 – Solarbox Africa Inc, incubated by Wuri Ventures, brings a new approach to electrifying last-mile logistics for Fast Moving Consumer Goods (“FMCG”) and people. Their initial pilot in Senegal demonstrated the competitiveness in their design, assembly, charge, and battery swapping for electric 3-wheelers. ARE Member On.Capital is proud to be their first institutional investor to support their go-to-market.
Solarbox serves fleet managers/owners and logistic companies going electric for tricycles that can carry up to 800 kg per load. The company both retrofits existing and manufactures new 3-wheeled vehicles. SolarBox Africa brings direct short-term savings to 3-wheelers operators and drivers – at no upfront cost – to make cities cleaner, smarter, and logistics cheaper!
Prior to expanding to large markets like Nigeria and Kenya, Solarbox is looking at capturing a significant market share in Senegal, a market intimately mastered by both Wuri Ventures and On.Capital. The latter is already providing more than capital, by supporting industrialisation, software development, and strategic partnerships to launch big markets.
“On.Capital brings more than capital: they are leaders in the renewable energy space in Africa and are laser-focused on electric mobility in particular. They are a great fit for Solarbox at this stage”, says Tijan Watt, co-founder of Wuri Ventures and interim CEO of Solarbox.
“We believe there is a big niche market for 3-wheelers to go electric in Africa, as it happened in India and China; Solarbox has a unique solution and stellar team to capture it”, says Emmanuel Beau Founder and President of On.Capital.
“Solarbox demonstrated it could bring to market its own bespoke solution that actually comes from the field and users; it is now ready to industrialise, and build strategic partnerships with OEM and suppliers”, says Paul-Francois Cattier, Venture Partner at On.Capital.