- OX Delivers, an e-mobility transport service company based in the UK, has received a £1.2 million ($1.5 million) grant from Energy Catalyst, an Innovate UK programme, to help it roll out all-electric OX4 trucks in Rwanda and expand in the global South.
- It intends to build the OX4 truck in March 2024 and deliver it for assembly in local markets. A 20-person design, engineering, and production team is finalising the OX4 truck at the company's headquarters in the United Kingdom.
- Additionally, OX Delivers is looking to expand to the South globally, starting with Africa.
OX Delivers, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Leamington Spa, UK, is a technology-driven transport service startup aiming to provide on-demand transport in emerging markets. It also aims to provide motorised transportation to businesses that do not have access to it, and it currently serves approximately 4000 customers.
OX Delivers customers pay about $1 for only the space they need on a kilogram-per-kilometre basis through an application or toll-free number.
With the grant, the startup wants to provide affordable transport to rural communities and create a "charge points" network for low-carbon energy, highlighting its benefits.
According to the CEO, Simon Davis, OX Delivers transport-as-a-service model was validated as a clean energy solution in the Global South, not just because of the funding.
OX Delivers says introducing the all-electric OX4 truck will boost its operations and assist in electrifying its present depots (2). OX Delivers has also introduced a vehicle control unit, propelling the development of advanced software for the electric truck.
Aside from the grant from Energy Catalyst funding, OX Delivers has raised about $10 million from investors. It has also received funding from USAID and the UK government through initiatives like Innovate UK and the Advanced Propulsion Centre.
Advanced Propulsion Centre UK awarded OX Delivers a grant of £8,500,000 ($10,722,707) in 2022, and Innovate UK awarded the organisation a grant of £800,000 (more than $1 million) in 2021.
With 900 locally produced electric vehicles registered in Rwanda in 2022, the company plays a part in the country's electric vehicle market. Global manufacturers have entered the country's electric vehicle (EV) market; in 2019, Volkswagen launched its first electric vehicle in Africa, in Rwanda.
The Global South, which includes Africa, is another market it seeks to enter. There, EV revenue is expected to reach $85.6 million in 2024 and a market volume of $162.2 million by 2028.
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