MOBILITY fintech Moove, which provides revenue-based financing to mobility entrepreneurs across Africa, has raised $105 million (R1.6 billion) in an oversubscribed Series A2 round consisting of equity and debt.
The Nigerian-born global start-up and the world’s first mobility fintech provides revenue-based vehicle financing and financial services to mobility entrepreneurs. By embedding its alternative credit scoring technology onto ride-hailing, e-logistics and instant delivery platforms, it can use proprietary performance and revenue analytics to underwrite loans to drivers that have previously been excluded from financial services.
More than three million rides have been completed in Moove-financed vehicles across six markets (Lagos, Accra, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi and Ibadan) and three product categories - cars, trucks and motorbikes.
This round was led by existing investors, Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital and the latest.ventures, with participation from new investors including AfricInvest, MUFG Innovation Partners, Latitude and Kreos Capital.
Moove co-founder and co-chief executive Ladi Delanoat said less than two years ago, they discovered this white space of mobility fintech and launched Moove.
“Having now surpassed over three million trips in Moove-financed vehicles across Africa, launched in six new cities and connected thousands of ambitious mobility entrepreneurs to ride-hailing, e-logistics and instant delivery marketplaces, we’re now leading this growing category within fintech.
“But there are still millions of budding mobility entrepreneurs in emerging markets across the world who have limited or no access to vehicle financing and marketplaces that are facing critical supply issues. With this new fund-raise, we are well-positioned and well funded to help solve this global problem. We’re delighted to have the support of leading investors across the globe who will be integral in enabling us to take our Nigerian-born model to the world,” Delanoat said.
Launched in 2020 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove was democratising vehicle ownership across Africa by providing mobility entrepreneurs access to revenue-based financing in markets with low access to credit. Using its alternative credit scoring technology, Moove provides vehicle financing to its customers to purchase brand new vehicles using a percentage of their weekly revenue.
Moove has experienced overwhelming demand and exponential growth across Africa, with its Moove-financed vehicles having completed over three million rides covering more than 25 million kilometres. Now, Moove said it was expanding its model globally to meet the needs of mobility entrepreneurs in other emerging markets.
With this new $105m Series A2 round brings the total raised by the mobility fintech pioneer to $174.5m.
Moove said it would rapidly scale its revenue-based vehicle financing model to seven new markets across Asia, Mena (the Middle East and North Africa) and Europe over the next six months.
Moove is part of a new generation of Nigerian-born start-ups that are upending financial services across Africa.
Moove co-founder and co-chief executive Jide Odunsi, said at Moove, they were working hard to create disruptive and impactful tech solutions to solve real-world problems.
“The Moove model that we’ve pioneered in Africa providing revenue-based vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs can be applied anywhere in the world, which is why we’re excited to be expanding to new emerging markets in Asia and the Mena region. As we scale, we remain committed to empowering women, leading the electrification of the mobility space and driving financial inclusion. These ideals are at the core of what we do as we continue to build a sustainable and impact-driven global business,” Odunsi said.
Over the next six months, Moove said it would scale its revenue-based vehicle financing model to mobility entrepreneurs across Asia, Mena and Europe, and planned to expand its partnerships and vehicle classes to include cars, trucks, bikes, three-wheelers, and buses.
Moove said it was committed to ensuring that at least 60 percent of the vehicles it financed were electric or hybrid in line with targets set at COP26, which meant the company was replacing the old-polluting vehicles that were exported from the rest of the world to the continent with new fuel-efficient vehicles.
This commitment to tackling the climate crisis saw Moove recently awarded the IFC’s Annual Corporate Award as one of the top 20 most impactful and transformational projects, applying an innovative and scalable solution towards a global problem.
Moove said it also had a commitment to ensuring that at least 50 percent of its customers were women as its product design enables more women to access vehicle financing and flexible employment.
AfricInvest Partner Julius Tichelaar said they were focused on supporting and growing companies that they believed would go beyond their own borders and become regional champions.
“Ladi and Jide have proven that Moove has the potential to transform the lives of millions of people across the continent, and we’re delighted to be supporting them as they expand Moove in Africa and beyond into more emerging markets. Through the AfricInvest FIVE Fund, we’re incredibly proud to be joining Ladi, Jide and all the Moovers on their exciting journey of disrupting financial services,” Tichelaar said.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE