Uber Technologies is in talks to back African vehicle-financing start-up Moove in a funding round of as much as US$100-million (R1.9-billion), said people familiar with the matter.
The US ride-hailing firm will join a group of investors in the cash raise, which will push Moove’s enterprise value to about $750-million from about $650-million, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous as the talks are still private.
The funding round has not yet concluded and the final figure could still change, ranging between about $75-million and $100-million, they said.
Representatives for Uber and Moove declined to comment.
Africa is home to the fastest-growing population in the world, with many young people increasingly using technology for services including banking, ride hailing and entertainment on a continent that has often lacked traditional infrastructure and institutions.
Moove is among several rapidly growing fintech services, such as Flutterwave and Interswitch, founded in Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria. Several have achieved so-called unicorn status, ascribed to start-ups with valuations of $1-billion or higher.
Credit-scoring system
British-born Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi founded Moove in Lagos in 2020 to help would-be drivers for ride-hailing services who couldn’t access vehicle financing. Now headquartered in Amsterdam, the firm has expanded across Africa, the UK, the United Arab Emirates and India.
The start-up uses a credit-scoring system to provide financing to drivers to buy new vehicles for ride hailing, logistics and deliveries using a percentage of their weekly income. It already has a close partnership with Uber.
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Moove also closed a $76-million equity and debt round in August last year that included BlackRock and Mubadala Investment. — Loni Prinsloo and Shona Ghosh, with Natalie Lung, (c) 2024 Bloomberg LP
