Moove Raises $23m to Expand Vehicle Ownership in Africa

By Adedapo Adesanya

Moove, an African mobility fintech, has raised $23 million in Series A funding to build a full-service service that democratizes vehicle ownership in Africa.

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, Spartech Ventures, 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 $28.2 million in equity and $40.0 million in debt.

This makes Moove the first investment in Africa for many of its United States’ VC backers, underscoring the opportunity for a platform to address the continent’s vehicle financing gap which has more than a billion people who have limited or no access to vehicle financing – and the lowest per capita vehicle ownership in the world.

The new Series A funding will also 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 per cent month-on-month growth so far.

The market opportunity in Africa is vast with a population of 1.3 billion people, with 43 per cent in urban areas and growing, and in 2019 had fewer than 900,000 total new vehicle sales compared to 17 million in the US.

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.

The company’s 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.

Moove customers can choose to pay back their loans over 24, 36, or 48 months, using a percentage of their weekly revenue.

All Moove customers sign up to the Moove app to manage all transactions and access other financial products on the platform.

Speaking on the goal with the new round, the co-founder of Moove, Mr Ladi Delano says, “In a continent full of opportunity, mobility is key to moving economies forward and this funding contributes to our ability to provide revenue-based financing, as Moove empowers Africans to safely become mobility entrepreneurs.

“We help people buy new cars who otherwise couldn’t afford them. And then, using the vehicle as a mobility entrepreneur, they’re able to earn money, which allows them to pay off the vehicle over time.”

Speaking on the development, Mr Stefan Klestil, General Partner at Speedinvest, said, “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.

“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.”

On his part, Mr Dan Ahrens, Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital noted, “Moove’s technology is fundamentally changing access to mobility and empowering thousands to earn a new source of income.

“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.”

Moove was initially bootstrapped by its co-founders, Messrs Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi with seed-stage funding from Future Africa, an Africa focused fund led by Mr Iyin Aboyeji, who was a founder at Andela and Flutterwave.

Moove is a mission-led company that’s committed to giving 100 per cent of mobility entrepreneurs access to affordable credit and ensuring that 50 per cent of its customers are women.

It also aims to ensure that at least 60 per cent of the vehicles it finances are electric or hybrid vehicles as part of its commitment to improving road safety and vehicle emissions on Africa’s roads.