Entrepreneurship Zone: 20 August 2020: Rwanda: Founder of electric motorcycle company discusses his journey so far

Thu Aug 20 04:42:25 CAT 2020

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Entrepreneurship Zone: 20 August 2020: Rwanda: Founder of electric
motorcycle company discusses his journey so far

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Josh Whale is the CEO of Ampersand, a Rwanda-based company which builds
electric motorcycles and charging systems for motorcycle taxi drivers.
Ampersand’s battery swapping system allows motorcycle taxi drivers to simply
replace depleted batteries with fully-charged ones at an Ampersand swap
station. The company also takes care of servicing, repairs and spare parts
while providing asset financing options for drivers.

1. Tell us about one of the toughest situations you’ve found yourself in as
a business owner.

The Coronavirus pandemic has been a huge challenge for us. We went from
having a $2 million term sheet in front of us in late March, to no term
sheet and a lockdown with our e-moto drivers unable to work. Fortunately, we
had been running on a cautious, shoestring budget for a long time. We’re
also fortunate to have a great CFO, Andy Williams. Andy must have run nearly
a hundred different contingency scenarios – looking at possible funding
opportunities, cost reductions and tranching – to enable us to make rapid,
well-informed decisions and maintain close oversight of our cashflow and
runway while financially supporting our drivers during the lockdown and not
losing any staff. Now we’re back on the road and have secured additional
grant funding, so we’re making it through this tough time.

2. What entrepreneurial achievement are you most proud of?

I’m most proud that we’ve successfully launched Africa’s first electric taxi
motorcycle fleet, and first network of moto charging stations. Our team has
a real shot at putting Africa on track to achieving a clean and sustainable
transport future. Last year, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame announced that
all motorbike taxis in the country will become electric in the near future,
adding incredible momentum to our efforts and to the country’s transition to
electric mobility. I’m also proud that we’ve added to the proof that Africa
can be a leader in tech revolutions, rather than a follower. Our
e-motorbikes have now been running six days a week for over a year, clocking
up well over 500,000km and our battery stations have performed over 12,000
swaps.

Ampersand motorcycles and batteries are assembled on site in Rwanda.

3. Describe your greatest weakness as an entrepreneur.

We’ve grown quickly from around 12 staff at the start of 2019 to 43 staff
now. I’m leading the largest team I’ve ever managed in my professional
career. Especially now, with the Coronavirus and the unchartered territory
we’re in, it’s not always easy at the top. And I don’t have decades of
experience running companies that I can draw on to navigate us through this.
Fortunately, I have an incredibly capable team that is proud of what we’re
doing and committed to reaching our goals, and funders and other supporters
lending support.

4. What popular entrepreneurial advice do you disagree with?

I think our experience doesn’t fit well with the “fail fast” idea. That’s
the idea that suggests you should go all in, throw everything at an idea and
then give up if the business doesn’t take off within a year. The “never give
up” motto has been more helpful for us over the years. I founded Ampersand
in 2014 but it wasn’t until 2018 that we were able to get our first
prototypes on the road in Africa and our commercial launch was in May 2019.
Sure, electric vehicles aren’t exactly the simplest tech, and being
something of a ‘sector creator’ presents extra hurdles. So it’s been a long
journey to get to this point. But it’s been well worth it and I’m glad we
didn’t give up in the early days.

Josh Whale

5. Is there anything you wish you knew about entrepreneurship before you
started?

I was fortunate to start my entrepreneurial journey in a great accelerator
programme, Startupbootcamp. In a previous life I was a lawyer, so it was
fantastic to be inducted into the world of entrepreneurship with lots of
great support and mentorship. That got a lot of the common misconceptions
about starting a business out of the way quickly.

In hindsight, I think I took too much upon myself in the early days. I think
we would have benefited from taking the leap and growing my team earlier.
For all the sceptics, there are plenty of fellow dreamers out there,
especially when it comes to something like climate change. I’ve been greatly
encouraged by the number of people out there who care deeply about climate
change and our mission, and are willing to take a bet that we’re onto
something big. –Howwemadeitinafrica

An Ampersand electric motorcycle.

INVESTORS DIARY 2020

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Companies under Cautionary

Bindura Nickel Corporation

Padenga Holdings

Delta Corporation

Meikles Limited

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