Moove raises $138m to expand across Europe, Asia, MENA
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Moove has raised another $105 million to provide vehicle financing to drivers on ride-hailing platforms like Uber and other gig networks in seven new markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) this year.
The African mobility fintech raised the sum in a new Series A2 round after its $10 million in debt financing deal in February 2022 and $23 million Series A round in August 2021.
That brings its new war chest to $138 million. It has raised a total $174.5 million in funding rounds since its founding in 2020.
The startup said the new money will help it model its gig drivers in other vehicle classes such as three-wheelers and buses.
The funding round was led by existing investors Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital and thelatest.ventures, and new investors AfricInvest, MUFG Innovation Partners, Latitude, and Kreos Capital.
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Leveraging first-mover advantage
Moove co-founder and CEO Ladi Delano disclosed that the startup will provide financial freedom through vehicle ownership for customers who have finished the programme in different markets, per reporting by Nairametrics.
Moove targets seven new markets across Asia, MENA and Europe by September 2022.
“As you can see, this white space that we discovered on mobility fintech, we want to make sure that with this new funding round, we continue to have our first-mover advantage.
“We go into these new markets to build businesses and to meet our customers at their point of need,” Delano said.
Tech solutions to real-world problems
Jide Odunsi, co-founder and co-CEO, explained that a lack of access to financing for mobility entrepreneurs is not unique to Africa.
“It is a problem faced across many emerging markets,” he stressed.
“So what this new round is going to help us do is not just scale in Africa across our existing markets and new markets, but it will also enable us to scale into new markets and new regions.
“At Moove, we are 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.”
Focus on firms growing beyond borders
“At AfricInvest, we are focused on supporting and growing companies that we believe will go beyond their own borders and become regional champions,” said Julius Tichelaar, Partner at AfricInvest.
“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.”
About Moove
Moove was launched in 2020 and is present in Lagos, Ibadan, Accra, Johanessburg, Cape Town, and Nairobi.
The fintech 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 its alternative credit scoring technology.
