Dodai Ethiopia Electric Motorbike Expansion Secures $13 Million Funding
Quick Reads
- Dodai closed a $13M Series A, $8M equity and $5M debt, to expand electric motorbikes in Ethiopia.
- Riders save 80–90% on fuel and maintenance costs by switching to Dodai’s e-bikes.
- Ethiopia banned fuel-powered private vehicle imports in 2024, creating a tailwind for Dodai.
- The startup aims for 30,000 users and 1,000 battery swap stations in Addis Ababa within 3 years.
- Dodai plans to expand into Abidjan, Kinshasa, Accra, and Dar es Salaam by 2028.
Ethiopia’s roads may look very different within a few years. Dodai raised $13 million to expand electric motorbikes and battery-swapping infrastructure across Ethiopia. The Series A round included $8 million in equity and $5 million in debt. Consequently, the raise shows investors now prioritize frontier markets for climate-focused transportation projects.
The round attracted Value Chain Innovation Fund, UTokyo Innovation Platform, Nagase, Persistent ACV Fund, and other investors. Meanwhile, British International Investment provided the debt financing portion. Notably, BII continues supporting clean mobility projects across Africa’s least-developed markets.
Japanese entrepreneur Yuma Sasaki founded Dodai and locally assembles electric motorbikes in Addis Ababa. Additionally, the company operates battery-swapping stations across the city. Riders can quickly exchange depleted batteries for fully charged replacements within minutes. Therefore, Dodai mainly targets delivery riders and motorcycle taxi operators needing maximum daily uptime.
Importantly, riders switching to Dodai bikes reduce fuel and maintenance costs by 80 to 90 percent. Meanwhile, Ethiopia strongly supports electric transportation policies. Ethiopia banned fuel-powered private vehicle imports in 2024. Later, the government extended the ban to diesel trucks in 2025. Currently, around 100,000 electric vehicles operate on Ethiopian roads.
Sasaki intentionally chose Ethiopia instead of more competitive African markets. He explained that Nigeria and Kenya already attract many competitors. However, Ethiopia and the DRC offer stronger long-term impact opportunities despite operational difficulties. Since launch, Dodai has deployed over 2,000 electric motorbikes across Ethiopia. Furthermore, the company employs about 100 workers, with Ethiopians representing 97 percent of the workforce.
The company’s ambitions extend well beyond Addis Ababa. Dodai targets 30,000 users and 1,000 battery-swapping stations in Addis Ababa within three years, before expanding into Abidjan, Kinshasa, Accra, and Dar es Salaam from 2028. For context on BII’s broader Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator strategy, the initiative co-funds frontier market deals alongside FMO and Proparco.
