Uber Ready To Back Moove With $100M Funding

Uber, the American ride-hailing company, is ready to back the Nigerian vehicle financing platform Moove in a $100 million funding round, as revealed in Bloomberg reports.

The funding round could potentially boost Moove’s valuation from $650 million to $750 million. However, the precise funding amount may vary, falling between $75 million and $100 million. Despite neither Uber nor Moove confirming the funding plan, it is likely to move forward based on their prior collaborations. In 2020, the two companies partnered to provide Uber drivers with adaptable vehicle ownership solutions.

Moove recently secured a $10 million debt funding from Stride Ventures to support its expansion into the Indian market. The move is expected to bolster Moove’s presence in India, specifically in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. Uber has notably teamed up with the African startup in India to offer electric cars to Uber drivers. While Uber’s backing of Moove may highlight the company’s progress, Moove has faced challenges such as staff reductions following a $140 million funding round and driver protests over its vehicle-financing strategy.

In September 2022, Moove launched its vehicle financing service in London, offering a 100 per cent rent-to-buy model for electric vehicles. Uber drivers applying for Moove financing can also benefit from reduced weekly payments through Uber’s Clean Air Plan, which supports their switch to electric vehicles. In December 2022, Moove entered the UAE, aiming to ensure that at least 60 per cent of the vehicles they finance globally are electric.

According to Moove’s website, the startup provides alternative credit-scoring technology to mobility entrepreneurs across various platforms in ride-hailing, planning, mass transit, and instant delivery sectors. The funding round comes six months after Moove raised $76 million to expand its platform. Since their last fundraising in 2022, Moove’s financial services platform for mobility gig workers has experienced a 17x revenue growth, enabling over 12,000 customers to complete more than 22 million trips in Moove-financed vehicles across 13 markets.

Moove has emerged as Uber’s primary vehicle financing partner in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, boasting the largest electric vehicle fleet on the Uber platform in the United Arab Emirates. The company intends to concentrate on its lucrative markets in the UAE, India, the United Kingdom, and South Africa.