Nigerian mobility fintech startup Moove, Uber’s exclusive vehicle financing and vehicle supply partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, has secured US$10 million in debt financing to enable it to expand across key markets.
Founded in 2019 by British-born Nigerians Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, who have successfully built three other businesses in Africa over the last eight years through venture studio Grace Lake Partners, Moove is democratising vehicle ownership in Africa by providing revenue-based vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs.
Moove embeds its alternative credit-scoring technology onto ride-hailing and e-logistics platforms, which allows access to proprietary performance and revenue analytics of mobility entrepreneurs to underwrite loans. Its 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.
Through to year-end December 2021, more than two million trips have been made in Moove-financed vehicles since it launched operations in 2020.
The startup raised a US$63.2 million Series A debt and equity funding round last year to help it expand more quickly and subsequently launched in South Africa. It now plans further expansion after securing a US$10 million financing facility from NBK Capital Partners’ Mezzanine Fund II.
The growth facility from the fund will support Moove’s expansion in West Africa initially. Moove is the first investment in Africa by NBK Capital Partners funds, underscoring the opportunity for a platform like Moove to address the continent’s vehicle financing gap.
Delano said the financing came at a “fantastic time” and was intelligently structured for Moove’s use case.
“This investment brings our total funding raised to date to US$78 million and will fuel our continued growth trajectory as we expand our regional operations to empower more mobility entrepreneurs. We are grateful to be working with a firm that supports our vision to build the first mobility fintech for Africa markets, tackling the problem of lack of access to credit for millions,” he said.
“We are very excited to partner with Moove on its journey to transform access to credit for millions of people across the African continent,” said Yaser Moustafa, chief executive officer (CEO) of NBK Capital Partners.
“The company is driven by strong founders who possess a unique, long-term vision for success, one built on the empowerment of individuals from every socioeconomic class across the region but also a genuine commitment to social and environmental sustainability.”
