Ghanaian energy technology company Kofa has closed a pre-Series A financing round of $8.1 million to accelerate the expansion of its AI-powered battery exchange network in Ghana and Kenya.

The start-up Kofa, specializing in the exchange of electric mobility batteries, raised 8.1 million USD in pre-series A, according to several media who specify that this financing combining debt and capital will be used to deploy new exchange stations in Ghana and Kenya, to build up a stock of batteries and to strengthen its AI-based energy management software platform.

The funding round was co-led by E3 Capital, one of Africa's largest climate venture capital funds, and Injaro Investment Advisors, a Ghanaian impact fund manager. The Shell Foundation and European battery investors also participated.

“We think that trying to capture the entire value chain is not the right fit,” said Erik Nygard, CEO and co-founder of Kofa, during an interview with TechCabal. “It doesn't take into account the reality on the ground. In Africa, scale is achieved through partnerships, not through vertical integration.”

Founded in 2021, Kofa differs from players like Ampersand (Rwanda) or BasiGO (Kenya) in that it focuses only on providing energy, without manufacturing vehicles. Its batteries, produced in China and integrated into motorcycles assembled by partners like TailG, are financed by asset investors. The model, which is low in capital, is based on a network of stations where users exchange their batteries for about $1 in less than two minutes