Moove Founders Jide Odunsi and Ladi Delano
Moove, an African mobility fintech, has announced that it has raised $23 million in Series A funding.
The round was led by Speedinvest and Left Lane Capital, with participation from DCM, Clocktower Technology Ventures, thelatest.ventures, LocalGlobe, Tekton, FJ Labs, Palm Drive Capital, Roka Works, KAAF Investments, Class 5 Global, and Victoria van Lennep, co-founder of Lendable. Africa specialist, Verod Kepple Africa Ventures, and one of Moove’s existing lenders, Emso Asset Management, also joined the round.
This brings Moove’s total funding to $68.2 million, including $28.2M in equity and $40.0M in debt.
Moove is the first investment in Africa for many of its U.S. VC backers, underscoring the opportunity for a platform like Moove to address the continent’s vehicle financing gap.
Operating on a continent with more than a billion people who have limited or no access to vehicle financing – and the lowest per capita vehicle ownership in the world – Moove will use the funding round to build a full-service mobility fintech that democratizes vehicle ownership across Africa.
Co-founders, Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi said, “Since launching in Ghana, we have remained focussed on developing strategies to support mobility entrepreneurs with a clear path to vehicle ownership. In just five months, over 50,000 ride-hailing hours and over 60,000 trips were completed in Moove financed vehicles in Ghana” said Jephthah Datsomor, Ghana country manager for Moove.
They added, “As we look to the future, the new equity funding will allow us to grow and expand operations in Accra and other major cities, as well as extend our product offerings to ensure that we meet our impact objectives. We are also excited to build our team base within the country and hope to continue empowering drivers on their entrepreneurial journey.”
The start-up was initially bootstrapped by its co-founders with seed stage funding from Future Africa, an Africa focused fund led by Iyin Aboyeji, who was a founder at Andela and Flutterwave.
The new Series A funding will allow Moove to grow and expand into new markets as well as develop and launch new products and services. The equity raise follows a year of momentum and success for Moove with the launch of three cities and 60% month-on-month growth so far.
“With Ladi and Jide at the helm of a world-class team, and their unique approach to vehicle financing, Moove has quickly established itself as one of the most exciting tech companies in Africa,” said Stefan Klestil, General Partner at Speedinvest. “The company’s expansion to three cities in under 12 months demonstrates the huge demand for vehicle financing in Africa, where just five per cent of new cars are purchased with financing, compared to 92 per cent in Europe.”
“Moove’s technology is fundamentally changing access to mobility and empowering thousands to earn a new source of income,” said Dan Ahrens, Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital. “As we look ahead, the potential for that technology and the Moove team to expand even further is very exciting. They have the opportunity to become a full-service mobility fintech and expand their offerings to insurance and other financial services.”
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri