Mobility Fintech Moove Raises $105 Million in an Over-subscribed Funding Round

Moove, a West African mobility fintech that provides vehicle financing to drivers of ride-hailing platforms, has raised $105 million in new Series A2 financing.

This round was led by existing investors Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital, and the latest ventures. The investors shared $65 million equity and $40 million in debt. New investors such as AfricInvest, MUFG Innovation Partners, Latitude, and Kreos Capital participated.

This funding comes almost seven months after the startup closed its $23 million Series A round and a month after the mobility fintech closed $10 million in debt financing. The startup. Launched in 2020, is now present in six African cities: Lagos, Accra, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi and Ibadan.

Africa is home to more than a billion people, where a majority have limited or no access to vehicle financing. In 2019, the region had fewer than 900,000 new vehicle sales, compared to 17 million recorded by the U.S. that same year.

For most of the population in Africa, and startups such as Moove are looking to provide a long-term fix through vehicle financing for those who can make money off owning cars – gig drivers or mobility entrepreneurs, as Moove describes them.

Moove, which deals with new cars, is a flexible option for drivers who want to get into the business of ride-hailing without having to borrow from car owners or take bank loans to finance cars bought from dealerships.

Here’s how it works: Drivers sign up on the platform and, once verified, are trained and sign contracts with Moove to access loans to buy or rent cars. The company gets these drivers on Uber’s platform — its exclusive partner across Africa — and then deducts weekly rental fees from their earnings before transferring the balance to their accounts.

The loans are between 12 and 48 months, and when drivers repay them (at an 8% to 13% annual interest rate), they own the cars, the company said.

“We have been able to provide financial freedom through vehicle ownership for some of our customers who have finished the program in different markets,” Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO, said when asked how many drivers have managed to gain ownership of cars since using the platform.

“So we’re still a young business. Those at 48 months are yet to finish their term. But some that signed up very early in the business on the shorter products have been able to pay off and make purchases.”