Nigerian mobility fintech startup, Moove, has raised US$23 million in its Series A debt and equity funding round.
According to the startup, which provides alternative credit-scoring technology to ride-hailing and e-logistics platforms, the funds would be targeted towards providing financial support to Uber drivers to acquire cars.
The funding round, which takes the total capital of Moove to $68.2 million, was led by Speedinvest and U.S.-based Left Lane Capital. Further participations came from investors such as DCM, Clocktower Technology Ventures, thelatest.ventures, LocalGlobe, Tekton, FJ Labs, Palm Drive Capital, Roka Works, KAAF Investments, Class 5 Global, Victoria van Lennep, and Kepple Africa Ventures.
Some of Moove’s existing investor, Emso Asset Management, and IFC, also participated in the fundraise.
Moove’s financing model is to provide loans to its customers by selling them new vehicles and financing up to 95 per cent of the purchase within five days of sign up.
The customers would then choose to repay the loans over 24, 36, or 48 months. The repayment is done through a percentage of the customer’s weekly revenue.
The company’s co-founder, Ladi Delano, said the company uses data on ride-hailing platforms, such as earnings and performance, and uses this information to make credit decisions for lending to the drivers.
“One of our commitments is to ensure that 60% of all the cars we finance are either EV or hybrid cars. We’ll be launching our first EV fleet in all three markets across the continent later this year,” Delano said, referring to Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.
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Moove operates mainly with Toyota vehicles, except in Ghana where it has a partnership with Volkswagen. Each vehicle the company provides cost about $9,000 to $13,000, depending on the model and brand.
Delano added that Moove is “about to go from cars into buses and also trucks for mobility entrepreneurs.” The company plans to put around 9,000 to 10,000 vehicles on the road by the end of 2021.
The startup is co-located in Uber offices in Lagos, Johannesburg and Accra, and plans to launch in Cape Town in the next two weeks. It also plans to expand to Durban by September after which it will open offices in Uganda and Kenya.
The company is Uber’s exclusive vehicle financing and vehicle supply partner in sub-Saharan Africa, with Moove-financed cars having completed over 850,000 Uber trips.