Moove, which provides revenue-based financing to mobility entrepreneurs across Africa, has raised $105-million in a new funding round.
The round was led by existing investors, Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital and thelatest.ventures, with participation from several new investors, including AfricInvest, MUFG Innovation Partners, Latitude and Kreos Capital.
Launched in 2020 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove says it is “democratising vehicle ownership across Africa by providing mobility entrepreneurs access to revenue-based financing in markets with low access to credit”. Using an alternative credit scoring technology, it provides vehicle financing to customers to purchase new vehicles using a percentage of their weekly revenue.
Moove says it has experienced overwhelming demand and exponential growth across Africa, with its Moove-financed vehicles having completed over 3-million rides, covering more than 25 million kilometres. Now, it is expanding its model globally to other emerging markets across Asia, Middle East, North Africa and Europe over the next six months.
The company is part of a new generation of Nigerian-born startups that are upending financial services across Africa. It raised $23-million in an oversubscribed initial funding round in August 2021 and secured seed-stage funding from Future Africa in 2019. The new funding round will allow it to expand its partnerships and vehicle classes to include cars, trucks, bikes, three-wheelers, and buses.
Moove’s model has proven transformative in other ways. Its commitment to ensuring that at least 60% of the vehicles it finances are electric or hybrid, in line with targets set at the COP26 climate conference, means the company is replacing the old-polluting vehicles that are exported from the rest of the world to the continent with new fuel-efficient vehicles. This commitment 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.
Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO at Moove, says: “Less than two years ago we discovered this whitespace of mobility fintech and launched Moove. Having now surpassed over 3-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 fundraise, 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.”