{"id":28151,"date":"2026-01-17T00:12:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T00:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/28151\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T00:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T00:12:16","slug":"nigerias-max-raises-24-million-to-scale-ev-across-west-and-central-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/28151\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria&#8217;s MAX Raises $24 Million to Scale EV Across West and Central Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/empowerafrica.com\/2026\/01\/16\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lagos-based mobility tech firm <a href=\"https:\/\/techlabari.com\/tag\/max\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MAX<\/a> has secured $24 million in fresh equity and debt to accelerate its pivot toward electric vehicle (EV) financing across West and Central Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Why it matters<\/p>\n<p>The deal signals a growing investor appetite for African \u201cgreen mobility\u201d as rising fuel costs and falling battery prices make electric two- and three-wheelers more competitive than petrol alternatives.<\/p>\n<p>The Big Picture<\/p>\n<p>The funding round\u2014backed by Equitane DMCC, Novastar, and Endeavor Catalyst\u2014comes as MAX reaches a critical turning point: profitability in its home market of Nigeria.<\/p>\n<p>The mix: The $24 million includes equity from global institutional backers and debt from the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund (EEGF).<\/p>\n<p>The pivot: This follows a significant \u201cstrategic reset\u201d last year, which included a 30% workforce reduction (approx. 150 staff) to sharpen focus on EV infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>The scale: CEO Adetayo Bamiduro aims to support 250,000 drivers by 2027 and surpass $150 million in annual recurring revenue.<\/p>\n<p>Driving the Transition<\/p>\n<p>MAX isn\u2019t just financing bikes; it\u2019s building the ecosystem required to keep them running. The new capital is earmarked for:<\/p>\n<p>Infrastructure: Expanding battery-swapping stations and clean energy charging points.<\/p>\n<p>Local Assembly: Boosting production at its Ibadan, Nigeria plant to reduce reliance on imports.<\/p>\n<p>Tech Stack: Enhancing proprietary fleet management and IoT (Internet of Things) capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Between the Lines<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s journey reflects the broader evolution of African tech. Founded in 2015, MAX has transitioned through several business models\u2014from delivery and ride-hailing to its current focus on a comprehensive EV platform.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe capital will accelerate\u2026 an integrated mobility platform that improves access and affordability for drivers and riders,\u201d says Bamiduro.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s next<\/p>\n<p>Look for MAX to aggressively expand its presence beyond Nigeria into West and Central African markets, leveraging its assembly capacity to partner with local manufacturers.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/empowerafrica.com\/nigerias-max-raises-24-million-to-scale-electric-mobility-financing\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Empower Africa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Learn more about other African tech startups on Labari Insights, our data repository for tech in Africa: <a href=\"http:\/\/insights.techlabari.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">insights.techlabari.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lagos-based mobility tech firm MAX has secured $24 million in fresh equity and debt to accelerate its pivot&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[45],"tags":[17223,17224,122],"class_list":["post-28151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nigeria","tag-electric","tag-ev","tag-nigeria"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}