Lagos-based electric mobility company MAX has extended its Series B3 funding round to $29 million after securing new financing from Nithio, a United States-based climate fintech platform focused on clean energy investments in Africa. The investment, disclosed on Nithio’s website, adds to the $24 million equity and debt round MAX raised in January 2026 and signals growing confidence in the commercial viability of electric transport on the continent.
The exact amount Nithio invested was not disclosed, but the participation of a climate-focused financier known for rigorous, data-driven risk assessment marks a notable moment for MAX and for Africa’s broader e-mobility sector.
What Nithio Brings to the Table
Nithio is not a typical venture capital firm. Based in Washington, the company uses artificial intelligence and geospatial data to evaluate credit risk in markets where traditional credit histories are scarce. It has primarily financed off-grid solar companies across Sub-Saharan Africa, helping to make clean energy products affordable for households and small businesses.
Its move into electric mobility is deliberate. In February 2026, Nithio extended a $7 million debt facility to Spiro, the Kenyan electric motorcycle company, as part of a wider $50 million debt round. Now, with MAX, Nithio is deepening its presence in a sector where the biggest bottleneck is not technology but financing for vehicles and the infrastructure needed to keep them running.
Raghav Sachdeva, Nithio’s chief investment officer, explained the logic behind the investment. “MAX is building a scalable platform for cleaner and more affordable mobility across Africa,” he said. “Its ability to combine technology, financing and operational expertise is helping transport operators access productive assets while improving the economics of their businesses”.
MAX’s Model: No Upfront Cost, Daily Payments
MAX was founded in Lagos in 2015 and has evolved from a bike-hailing operation into what it describes as Africa’s first integrated electric vehicle and battery subscription platform. The company’s core offering is simple but powerful. Commercial transport operators, whom MAX calls “Champions,” pay a daily subscription fee to access an electric motorcycle or tricycle without paying the full purchase price upfront.
That daily fee covers not just the vehicle but also insurance, maintenance, training and access to battery-swapping services. Riders earn their income during the day and pay from their daily earnings, which removes the biggest barrier to entry for low-income transport workers: the high cost of buying a vehicle.
MAX supports this model with an extensive network of solar-powered charging and battery-swapping infrastructure. The company reports 288 battery cabinets across 143 swap locations, powered in part by 1 megawatt-peak of solar generation capacity that has produced more than 200,000 kilowatt-hours of clean energy to date. Its solar-powered energy hubs can deliver electricity at a cost roughly 50 per cent below Nigeria’s Band A grid tariff, which helps keep the cost of running the battery network under control.
Profitability Changes the Conversation
Perhaps the most important detail in MAX’s story is that the company reached profitability in Nigeria in January 2026. In a sector where scale has often come before unit economics, MAX has prioritised cash flow and asset efficiency over rapid expansion. The company deployed more than $56 million in fleet financing and recovered $44 million in repayments before declaring profitability in its largest and most complex market.
That achievement matters for the entire continent because electric mobility startups have long been viewed as capital-hungry ventures that burn cash on vehicles, batteries and charging stations before revenues can catch up. MAX’s ability to turn a profit in Nigeria suggests the model can work at scale.
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Why Fuel Prices Are Driving the Switch
The economics of electric transport in Nigeria have become increasingly compelling since the removal of the petrol subsidy in May 2023. Petrol prices, which were below ₦200 per litre before the policy change, had reached roughly ₦1,405 to ₦1,409 per litre in Abuja by October 2026, with Lagos prices not far behind. Industry estimates place fuel at 40 to 60 per cent of a commercial rider’s daily earnings.
MAX says its electric vehicles and solar-powered battery-swapping services cut combined energy and maintenance costs by more than 40 per cent compared with petrol-powered alternatives at current prices. For a rider whose income is tied to daily earnings, that difference is not abstract. It is the difference between struggling to break even and keeping more of what they earn.
From Lagos to West and Central Africa
MAX currently operates in 20 cities across Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon, with expansion pipelines covering nine additional African markets. Its assembly facility in Ibadan has the capacity to produce up to 3,600 vehicles per month, including electric two- and three-wheelers.
The company says it has served more than 60,000 commercial transport operators, facilitated over one billion trips and helped avoid an estimated 238,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Its battery-swapping network has facilitated more than 350,000 swaps, supported by its own infrastructure and partnerships with operators including Spiro and Kofa.
The fresh capital from Nithio and the earlier $24 million round will support fleet expansion, battery-swap rollout and the continued development of MAX’s pay-as-you-go financing platform across West and Central Africa. MAX has set a long-term ambition of supporting up to 250,000 drivers by 2027 and surpassing $150 million in annual recurring revenue.
What This Means for African E-Mobility
The MAX-Nithio deal is part of a broader surge in investment flowing into Nigerian electric mobility. Between October 2025 and February 2026, publicly disclosed funding commitments in the sector exceeded $174 million, making it the largest capital raise in African e-mobility to date. Spiro, MAX and Lagride all completed funding rounds in that period, drawing backing from development finance institutions, commercial banks and climate-focused investors.
Development finance institutions have played a crucial role in this wave, providing patient capital at below-market rates to absorb early risks and make commercial lenders more comfortable with the sector. Nithio’s investment in MAX fits that pattern. Its risk analytics engine, built on repayment data and machine learning, gives it a way to assess creditworthiness in markets where conventional credit records are hard to come by.
