Kejora-SBI Orbit Fund Invests in Electric Motorcycle Battery Developer

Aiming to encourage the growth of electric motor users in the country, PT SWAP Energi Indonesia launched the "SWAP Battery System" innovation. Founded in 2019, the SWAP Smart System tries to answer the needs of motorcyclists with high mobility who want to switch to electric motorbikes but are reluctant to spend hours charging their motorbike batteries.

In particular the SWAP Battery System offers an innovative 9 second battery-swap (battery swapping) which have been spread over hundreds of strategic points in Jakarta. Users no longer need to experience queuing processes such as filling up at gas stations; simply open the SWAP application (with a claimed savings of around 25% compared to gasoline) and immediately exchange batteries at the nearest SWAPPoin. This technology has been adapted by PT Smoot Motor Indonesia through the output of its newest smart electric motor called SMOOT Tempur.

"By switching to SMOOT motorcycles that are environmentally friendly and integrated with the SWAP Battery System, riders don't have to worry when they have to travel long distances on electric motorcycles; they can enjoy savings in daily transportation costs while making a positive contribution through reducing air pollution," said the founder. and the CEO of PT Smooth Motor Indonesia, Irwan Tjahaja.

Claiming to have a significant difference with other similar service providers, SMOOT is referred to as a "smart" electric motor because it starts from a motor, battery, battery exchange place (SWAPPoin); everything is connected in a SWAP application. SMOOT users can always monitor the latest battery status and also the location of the motor. No less important, for the convenience and security of users, SMOOT is equipped with an anti-theft system that can also be accessed through the application when the vehicle is lost or stolen.

Receive funding from Kejora-SBI Orbit Fund

SWAP has received seed funding from Kejora-SBI Orbit Fund, which is a venture capital funding collaboration between Kejora Capital and SBI Holdings. In particular, since its initial launch, Kejora-SBI Orbit Fund is here to invest in startups that focus on the Indonesian market. In its debut Kejora-SBI Orbit Fund committed to disburse $30 million.

To DailySocial Executive VP of Kejora-SBI Orbit Richie Wirjan said that in the future this SWAP will not only provide a solution for batteries, but also as a energy distribution company.

"We see electric vehicle currently only one of them is used use case course, then we will also see logistics related to education and SMEs. So let's see this SWAP is more than just a battery for a motor. This will be the first try for electric vehicle, in the future we will see use caseat several other logistics companies," Richie said.

Electric vehicles are one of the SWAP use cases, which in the future will continue to develop into other sectors such as logistics, education and also support for MSME actors," said Richie.

His expectation is that with this innovation, two-wheeled EV players don't have to create other infrastructure. They simply adopt the 9-second battery swap system from SWAP so that a sharing economy can be achieved between fellow EV players in this ecosystem.

Currently, SWAP continues to communicate with several leading logistics companies in Indonesia, with the hope of continuing to intensify the adoption of SMOOT smart electric motors in the next 4th quarter.

Electric motor growth potential

Although there are still many motorcycle users in Indonesia who choose gasoline motorcycles over electric motorcycles, it is predicted that electric motorcycles will have positive growth in the future. According to BPS data in 2019, around 112,000,000 motorcycles have made Indonesia the world's 3rd largest motorcycle market, and directly contributed to the high level of air pollution and its impact on public health.

Although new electric motorcycle brands continue to emerge, this is because the battery capacity is still relatively small and the performance is minimal, resulting in shorter mileage.

The 9-second battery swap concept offered by SWAP Energy allows drivers to always use the best performing battery without waiting for hours to charge like other electric batteries. PT Swap Energi Indonesia has conducted in-depth research for the development of battery and electric motor technology since 2019.