MAX Raises Series B3 to $29 Million as Nithio Backs EV Financing

MAX, the Nigerian electric mobility company, has extended its Series B3 funding round to $29 million after an investment from Nithio, a United States-based climate fintech, as it scales electric vehicle financing and battery swapping across West and Central Africa.

Nithio announced the investment on October 12, 2026, though it did not disclose the size of its individual contribution.

What the new capital will do

The round supports MAX's push to make clean, affordable mobility available to more riders and businesses. MAX offers electric two- and three-wheelers through financing arrangements rather than outright purchase, a model designed to lower the upfront cost that keeps many commercial drivers on petrol machines.

Beyond vehicles, the company runs battery-swapping infrastructure that addresses one of the practical barriers to electric adoption: range and charging time. Swapping allows a rider to exchange a depleted battery for a charged one quickly, rather than waiting hours at a charging point. The capital will fund the growth of both the fleet and the swapping network.

The road to profitability

The investment builds on a $24 million equity and debt round MAX announced in January 2026, backed by investors including Equitane DMCC, Novastar Ventures, Triple Jump, Endeavor Catalyst and the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund. At the time, MAX said it had reached profitability in Nigeria, its largest market, after deploying more than $56 million in fleet financing and repaying $44 million to date.

That profitability milestone matters for the sector. Electric mobility in Africa has often been framed as a future proposition dependent on subsidy and patient capital. MAX's position is that the unit economics work now, driven by lower running costs for drivers and a financing model that aligns repayments with daily earnings.

Why EV financing is an African growth story

Nithio's involvement extends a pattern of climate-focused capital moving into African electric mobility. In February 2026, the firm extended a $7 million debt facility to Kenyan electric motorcycle company Spiro as part of a wider $50 million round involving Afreximbank and the Africa Go Green Fund.

The logic is straightforward. Commercial motorcycle and tricycle transport is a huge source of employment and emissions across African cities, and drivers' fuel costs are a large share of their operating expenses. Electric vehicles reduce that cost and cut pollution. The constraint has never been demand; it has been access to affordable financing for the vehicles and supporting infrastructure. That is precisely the gap that rounds such as this are meant to fill.

What to watch

Watch how quickly MAX expands its fleet and swapping stations beyond its current footprint in 20 cities across Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon, and whether it can maintain the cost advantages that underpin its model as it grows. The next test is whether regional expansion dilutes the unit economics that made the Nigerian business profitable.