Nigeria’s Moove raises $76m to ‘double down’ on profitable markets

Nigeria-based fintech Moove has raised $76 million of new funding, led by Mubadala Investment Company and with participation from BlackRock.

Moove, which was founded in 2020, will use the proceeds to develop its financial services platform, launched in response to a lack of available vehicle financing for African mobility entrepreneurs.

Since then, the company has become Uber’s largest vehicle financing partner in EMEA and already operates the largest EV fleet by supply hours on the Uber platform in the UAE.

The new funding consists of $28 million in equity from new and existing investors, in a process led by Mubadala, $10 million venture debt from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, and $38 million in previously undisclosed funds raised during the prior 12 months.

Faris Sohail Al Mazrui, head of ventures and growth at Mubadala, will join the Moove advisory board.

Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Moove, said: “We are excited to be partnering with Mubadala and BlackRock to double down on our already profitable markets including the UAE, India, UK, and South Africa, as well as continuing to invest in our customer experience and accelerate our product development to deliver group-wide profitability within the next 12 months.”

“Moove has built a highly scalable tech-enabled platform to serve mobility entrepreneurs globally by providing them access to credit and other financial services previously unavailable to them,” added Al Mazrui.

“This is a hugely underbanked and underserved market that we believe has significant long-term potential.”

The Moove app is live in four markets – South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and India.

Sean Dunne, managing director of BlackRock, formerly Kreos Capital, said Moove has the potential to play a vital part in the electrification of mobility.

“Moove is providing its customers access to finance and the chance to participate in the transformation of the mobility sector, by growing its global EV fleet,” he said.

“As countries continue to develop, moving away from private car ownership, and towards shared mobility solutions and ride-hailing, Moove can be at the forefront of that change.”