How a self-taught tech guru from Tanzania set up Moovn to be the Uber for the developing world

Meet Godwin Gabriel. He is the founder of Moovn, a ridesharing app which he founded in Seattle to rival established players like Uber and Lyft. He has since expanded the operation of his startup to Africa, the Middle East and over eight cities in America.

Becoming a tech founder is a realization of Gabriel’s long-held dream of creating his own business when he was only 15 years old and had just graduated from high school. He approached a food and beverage manager with a proposal to be her sole supplier in the city of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. He eventually sealed a deal and it launched his entrepreneurial journey.

After a number of years of experimenting with his teenage entrepreneurial ventures, his parents pushed him to apply for college. He applied to Lower Columbia College in Washington. After a year, he left after he became a father and began taking night classes toward a bachelor’s in pre-law from Seattle University.

He took on a senior job in the hospitality industry after graduation. This allowed him to travel around America and as he did, he noticed all hotel guests had challenges arranging vehicles from one point to another.

He then got the idea to venture into the transportation industry in order to address this challenge. He launched Elite Cars in 2013 and had up to 15 fleets of cars, including luxury vehicles, for people to rent or hire a chauffeur via his website or by phone.

However, the business stalled when the 2008 recession hit. He sold his business and ventured into the real estate sector. He then followed up his new career venture by enrolling in an MBA program. While doing his MBA, he led projects at Microsoft and became interested in technology.

“There’s so much money in technology. But I always felt I didn’t have the aptitude for it,” Gabriel told The Seattle Medium. “I always felt myself a consumer rather than a builder.”

In 2015, Gabriel launched Moovn in Seattle to rival established players like Uber and Lyft in the ride-sharing industry. This was after he began learning to code from YouTube tutorials and worked on Moovn.

From Seattle in the U.S., Moovn is not only available in Africa, the Middle East and cities in America, but it also has over 1,400 partners and professional drivers among town cars and taxis.

“Moovn is an application that enables you to book an exclusive driver on demand or Pre-Book a ride for a later time and date. We infuse technology into transportation in order to provide our customers with car service that’s exclusive, convenient and affordable,” the app says.

Moovn started by allowing different vehicle options depending on the local modes of transportation like motorcycles and tricycles in developing economies.

The app also has other unique features including the movement of products and services from the marketplace to the consumer and the ability to enable businesses to keep track of their transport logistics.