VCs back Indonesia battery-swapping scooter maker

Kejora Capital and SBI Holdings also invested via their jointly managed Orbit fund. The round, which is being called a pre-Series A extension, also featured US-based cleantech accelerator New Energy Nexus, and Indonesian coal miner Wahana Bara Sentosa. It amounts to USD 7.5m, according to Nikkei.

Kejora-SBI Orbit led an initial pre-Series A in March last year with support from New Energy, local investors Living Lab Ventures and Raksasa Capital, and China’s Yifang Ventures. Baramulti Group, another coal miner, also participated.

Swap was founded in 2019 by Chinese Indonesian Irwan Tjahaja, who has about 15 years of experience in China’s battery production and electronics supply chain industries. The core staff also includes motorcycle industry professionals.

Swap claims to have Southeast Asia’s largest clean energy distribution network through swappable batteries and smart e-motorcycles. In Indonesia alone, there are more than 1,000 battery-swapping terminals, a footprint that is said to account for 70% of all stations of this kind in the country.

The company claims significant cost benefits by partnering with batter station manufacturers, many of which are Chinese. It also notes that when businesses rely more on a battery-swapping ecosystem, consumer acceptance increases. Other partners include BP, Shell, Grab, Lazada, Circle K, Alfamart, and government power utility PLN.

The essential idea is to remove concerns around recharging and vehicle range from the e-scooter user experience. Swap’s smart scooters, made under the Smoot Motor brand, can be recharged as quickly as in nine seconds by exchanging an empty battery for a full one.

The concept was popularised in Asia by Taiwan’s Gogoro, which raised more than USD 1bn in private funding before listing on NASDAQ last year through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Gogoro entered Indonesia in January last year, partnering with Gojek, Indonesia Battery Corporation, and Indika Energy.

Indonesia is said to be the world’s third-largest two-wheeler market behind India and China. The government has set a target of having 13m electric motorcycles on the roads by 2030.

“The electric motorcycle market in Southeast Asia is poised for significant growth, particularly in Indonesia, where the market structure, user behaviour, and policies are highly conducive to the adoption of battery swapping models,” Randolph Hsu, founder of Ondine, said in a social media post.

“Additionally, the founder's diverse background and expertise in managing supply chain costs and expanding localized channels further bolster its competitive advantage. As a result, we anticipate that Swap will emerge as a dominant player in Indonesia's swappable energy network and smart electric motorcycle market and eventually expand its footprint to other developing nations.”

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Consumer
• Cleantech
• Early-stage
• Indonesia
• Ondine Capital
• Kejora Ventures
• SBI Holdings
• Electric Vehicles