Kenya’s electric vehicle start-up Roam has officially opened its doors to retail investors worldwide, launching a crowdfunding campaign on Europe’s equity platform Crowdcube as it gears up to scale across the African continent.
Traditionally reserved for institutional backers, Roam’s Pre-Series B allocation is now available to private investors on a first-come, first-served basis.
The company says this marks a deliberate shift towards inclusivity in financing its expansion.
“We’ve proven that electric mobility is possible, affordable, and scalable in Africa,” said Filip Lövström, co-founder and chief executive of Roam. “This crowdfunding campaign is about inclusion.
We want anyone within our community, and supporters of our mission, to now be able to join us on our continued journey as a shareholder.”
Roam describes itself as “Swedish-founded, Kenyan-built” and currently holds 40% EV market share in Kenya with 550% revenue growth from 2020–2023, according to its campaign page.
Its Kenyan manufacturing hub, Roam Park in Nairobi already has an annual capacity in excess of 50,000 electric motorcycles, and the company plans to four-fold production as part of its ramp-up.
The broader focus is Africa’s booming two-wheeler market, estimated at more than US$15 billion annually, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing mobility sectors.
Roam says its electric motorcycles, used for ride-hailing via platforms such as Bolt and Uber, offer a sustainable and cost-effective alternative for the millions of riders across the continent.
A key differentiator for the startup is its infrastructure strategy: leveraging Kenya’s renewable-energy driven grid (approximately 80% renewable) and a growing solar-powered charging network afoot.
Roam has already deployed a network of public “Roam Hub” charging and battery-swap stations, introduced in July 2024, to serve Kenya’s moto-taxi (“boda-boda”) sector, a move that underpins its ambition to decarbonise African transport from the ground up.
With an expanding urban population, increased transport demand and pressure for clean solutions, Africa stands at a mobility inflection point. Roam argues that converting 25 million petrol motorcycles to electric could yield both environmental and socio-economic gains.
Moreover, the timing aligns with global investor interest in climate tech and emerging-market mobility. By opening up to retail investors, Roam is tapping into growing appetite among individuals to invest in impact-driven opportunities often reserved for institutions.
The campaign is hosted on Crowdcube, a European equity-crowdfunding platform that has raised over €1 billion for high-growth companies.
Roam’s pitch highlights an expected €40 million carbon-revenue opportunity within five years, positioning the company not just as a vehicle-maker but as a participant in carbon-offset flows.
Roam’s growth ride is supported by partnerships with companies and investors including M-KOPA (a large pay-as-you-go financing platform), TotalEnergies, DHL, Hitachi and Wells Fargo. These alliances provide supply-chain, charging and financial-access support.
Such backing helps address two frequent barriers for electric mobility in Africa: upfront cost for riders and charging-infrastructure availability. Roam’s business model marries an electric hardware product with a financing and charging ecosystem to overcome those hurdles.
Named by the Financial Times as one of Africa’s fastest-growing companies, Roam is transforming the continent’s 25 million petrol motorcycles into electric ones.
Its team of over 200 professionals in Kenya is building these motorcycles in the heart of Silicon Savannah, Nairobi, driven by a shared passion to change lives every day.
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