Shift EV, Egypt's Electric Vehicle Startup Raises Series A Round to scale in the MENA region

Shift EV, an Egypt-based electric vehicle startup, has raised an undisclosed Series A round, led by the startup’s existing investors; Union Square Ventures, Algebra Ventures, Wamda, and was joined by a first-time investor Oman Technology Fund (OTF) to set up its manufacturing facility, grow its team, double down on software products and

Shift EV uses its in-house designed and manufactured batteries to convert existing gasoline-powered automobiles to electric vehicles. E-commerce, last-mile delivery, and distribution firms are currently served by Shift. The firm has created a dashboard that blends real-time sensor data communication technology into its car.

Aly El Tayeb and Amr Helmy founded Shift EV in 2020 to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicle (EV) batteries for commercial vehicles while catering to the sustainability of Egypt and the other emerging markets.

“Around 25 million commercial vehicles are plying on streets across diverse emerging markets. From bicycles, pickup trucks, minivans, to small trucks, etc. There is a massive multi-million market that awaits the EV disruption,” said Aly El Tayeb, CEO and co-founder of Shift EV.

With its in-house designed and produced batteries, Shift EV transforms current gas-powered automobiles into electric vehicles. The company’s first fleet of electric cars was delivered late last year.

“The pull factor about these batteries is that they are customizable and fit existing vehicles. Instead of making a battery for every vehicle we convert, we can make a few changes to the battery modular using the same design that we built from scratch [according to the client’s preferences],” said El Tayeb.

In addition to the environmental benefits, EVs offer cheaper operating and maintenance expenses than cars with internal combustion engines (ICU).

“Not only does switching to EVs cut carbon emissions, but it also reduces maintenance and operational expenses by 70%,” he noted.

Shift recently created a real-time sensor data communication system that connects to a dashboard in the car.

“This allows us to offer them complete information regarding the car’s performance and battery pack remotely from our end. Meanwhile, drivers may have comprehensive sight and control over their cars’ performance metrics “El Tayeb further explained.

Currently, the mobility startup has 2000 vehicles in the works to convert to its electric solution. It intends to use this additional investment to bring on more clients, particularly e-commerce, last-mile delivery, and distribution firms, as well as expand its operations to regions in the Middle East and North Africa.

“The majority of the industry’s players are huge organizations with strong obligations to reduce carbon emissions, which is why we opted to go after the last mile sector. Furthermore, because trucks traverse short distances of less than 200 kilometers and have a loading capacity of fewer than two tonnes, efficiency is better represented in the last-mile logistics sector. Furthermore, businesses employ warehouses in their operations, which make charging easier,” he added.