This fintech company just raised $23 million to make it easy for drivers to own cars in Africa

Moove, an African fintech company, has raised $23 million in series A funding to build a full-service mobility fintech that democratizes vehicle ownership across Africa.

The funding round was led by Speedinvest and Left Lane Capital, with participation from DCM, Clocktower Technology Ventures, the latest ventures, LocalGlobe, Tekton, FJ Labs, Palm Drive Capital, Roka Works, KAAF Investments, Spartech Ventures, Class 5 Global, and Victoria van Lennep, co-founder of Lendable, the company said in a statement.

Africa specialist, Verod Kepple Africa Ventures, and one of Moove’s existing lenders, Emso Asset Management, also joined the round, the statement further noted. The latest funding raised brings Moove’s total funding to $68.2 million, including $28.2 million in equity and $40.0 million in debt.

Moove operates in Africa, a continent with more than one billion people where a significant majority has limited or no access to vehicle financing. In 2019, the continent had fewer than 900,000 total new vehicle sales compared to 17 million in the U.S.

Moove works by embedding its alternative credit-scoring technology onto ride-hailing and e-logistics platforms. This then allows access to proprietary performance and revenue analytics of mobility entrepreneurs to underwrite loans.

According to the statement, the fintech’s model is to provide loans to its customers by selling them new vehicles and financing up to 95 percent 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,” the statement said.

The statement noted that Moove is Uber’s exclusive vehicle financing and vehicle supply partner in sub-Saharan Africa, with Moove-financed cars having completed more than 850,000 Uber trips covering over 13 million kilometers across the continent to date.

“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,” said 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.”

Moove was co-founded by Delano and Jide Odunsi, both British-born Nigerians. They were educated at the London School of Economics, Oxford University, and MIT. Also, they have successfully built three other businesses in Africa over the last eight years through their venture studio, Grace Lake Partners.