Series A funding secured by mobility fintech Moove will enable the Lagos-based start-up to accelerate its products and service designed to make vehicle ownership accessible to Africa’s billion-plus population.
Moove says that in 2019 the continent saw fewer than 900,000 total vehicle sales compared to 17 million in the US alone.
Moove embeds its alternative credit-scoring technology onto ride-hailing and e-logistics platforms, which provides driver performance and revenue analytics as evidence to underwrite loans allowing drivers to secure their ride hailing vehicles.
Moove provides loans to 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.
“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,” says Ladi Delano, co-founder of Moove. “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.”
While Moove is the first investment in Africa for many of its US venture capital backers, it already serves as Uber’s exclusive vehicle financing and vehicle supply partner in sub-Saharan Africa. Moove says it has financed cars that have already completed more than 850,000 Uber trips covering over 13 million kilometres across the continent to date.
“Moove has quickly established itself as one of the most exciting tech companies in Africa,” says Stefan Klestil, General Partner at Speedinvest, which led the funding round. “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.”
Moove says that it is 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.
