Fintech Moove Raises $105m in Series A2 Round to Scale Its Revenue-based Financing Model Globally
Moove, the world’s first mobility fintech, which provides revenue-based financing to mobility entrepreneurs across Africa, has raised $105 million in an oversubscribed Series A2 round consisting of equity and debt. The round is led by existing investors, Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital and thelatest.ventures, with participation from new investors including AfricInvest, MUFG Innovation Partners, Latitude and Kreos Capital. Launched in 2020 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove is democratizing 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, Moove provides vehicle financing to its customers to purchase brand new vehicles using a percentage of their weekly revenue. Having experienced overwhelming demand and exponential growth, Moove-financed vehicles have completed over 3 million rides covering more than 25 million kilometers. With this new $105m Series A2 round, which brings the total raised by the company to $174.5m, Moove will rapidly scale its model to seven new markets across Asia and the MENA region over the next six months.
Using data to democratize vehicle ownership
Moove is part of a new generation of Nigerian-born startups that are upending financial services across Africa. After raising $23m in an oversubscribed Series A last year, Moove is now leading the charge in the “mobility fintech” sector, a white space where Moove has emerged as the leader across Africa, helping to solve the continent’s acute problem of limited access to vehicle financing for millions of Africans. Poor credit penetration across Africa has restricted the ability of over 1 billion Africans to buy new vehicles. Fewer than 5% of all vehicles in Africa are purchased with financing compared to 92% in Europe and ownership is less than 44 cars per 1,000 people, compared to 640 per 1,000 in Europe. In Asia and the MENA region, with a combined population of more than 5 billion people, vehicle ownership stands at just 136 per 1,000 and 261 per 1,000, respectively. Moove will scale its model to mobility entrepreneurs across Asia and the MENA region and plans to expand its partnerships and vehicle classes to include cars, trucks, bikes, three-wheelers, and buses.
Driving impact across transport and finance
Moove’s model has proven transformative in other ways. At least 60% of the vehicles it finances are electric or hybrid, meaning it is replacing the old-polluting vehicles that are exported from the rest of the world to the continent with new fuel-efficient vehicles. Moove is driving forward new areas of emerging economies with a platform that is disrupting traditional financial services and providing the means to empower a new generation of mobility entrepreneurs. As well, Moove has a commitment to ensuring that at least 50% of its customers are women, and its product enables more women to access vehicle financing and flexible employment. Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO at Moove, said: “At Moove, we have enabled over 3 million trips in Moove-financed vehicles across Africa, launched in six cities and connected thousands of mobility entrepreneurs to marketplaces. But there are still millions of budding entrepreneurs who have limited or no access to vehicle financing. We’re delighted to have the support of leading investors across the globe who will be integral in enabling us to take our Nigerian-born model to the world.”
Jide Odunsi, co-founder and co-CEO at Moove, said: “The Moove model that we’ve pioneered in Africa providing revenue-based vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs can be applied anywhere in the world. 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.”
Stefan Klestil, General partner at Speedinvest, said: “Ladi and Jide are redefining what fintech can be, championing the use of revenue-based vehicle financing to empower people through employment. We’re delighted to be backing Moove again as they grow the business across the world.”
Dan Ahrens, Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital, said: “Despite the global challenges of the past two years, Moove has gone from strength to strength and expanded its services to tap into growing mobility opportunities. The team has an ambitious roadmap ahead of them and we can’t wait to see how the company grows over the next year.”
Rainer Schwarz, Partner at thelatest.ventures, said: “In only a short space of time, Ladi and Jide have built a rocketship of a business. Their unique approach to pioneering financial inclusion through the use of technology is helping to transform employment opportunities and transport infrastructure. We look forward to supporting them as they continue to expand in 2022.”