Last year, reports reflected that Moove, a vehicle financing startup serving Nigerian drivers & led by British-Nigerian entrepreneur Ladi Delano, was aiming for the seemingly elusive unicorn status.
Moove was founded by Ladi Delano & Jide Odunski 6 years ago in ’20. It has reached a USD 2.1 billion valuation after raising USD 250 million in a Series C round. This makes it Africa’s latest tech unicorn.
As witnessed on Condia, the funding round led by Mubadala Investment Company, as seen on Condia, by Mubadala Investment Company. It included major investors such as Toyota’s Woven Capital, Ion Pacific, and BlackRock, and they pay back the loans using a part of their weekly wages rather than being Uber.
Moves intend using the capital to expand its autonomous vehicle division. Also, acquire autonomous fleets and create robotics-focused depot facilities besides increasing its workforce to 500 staff.
Originally solving vehicle financing for African ride-hailing drivers, Moove uses a revenue-based repayment model. It has since grown rapidly across multiple continents.
In addition to existing investors such as BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, and Uber, new participation was secured from BlueCrest Capital Management and Sona Asset Management, along with the Raptor Group.
The allocated capital may be utilized to expand Moove’s autonomous vehicle division.
The move involves the acquisition of autonomous fleets besides the establishment of Nests. These are robotics-centric depot facilities that are dedicated to the charging and maintenance as well as repair of self-driving vehicles.
Concurrently, Moove intends expanding its autonomous vehicle workforce by almost 220%. This increases the headcount from nearly 150 to 500 personnel by the end of this year.
The ascent to unicorn status by Moove
6 years ago, in ’20, Nigerian entrepreneurs Ladi Delano & Jide Odunsi established Moove to address a primary challenge of vehicle financing that was confronting ride-hailing operators in Africa.
The mobility fintech created a proprietary revenue-based model. It permits drivers to purchase vehicles & pay back the loans using a part of their weekly wages rather than be dependent on conventional credit ratings.
What commenced as a vehicle financing startup has swiftly developed into one of Africa’s fastest-growing technology enterprises.
Moove, backed by investors such as Uber besides Mubadala Investment Company, extended beyond Africa to Europe, the Middle East, Asia & Latin America. It raised hundreds of millions of dollars in loans besides equity capital.
According to TechCabal, the startup increased from USD 275 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in ’24 to nearly USD 400 million the following year in ’25.
In solidifying its position as a top global unicorn, the business also explored a USD 300 million investment round in ’25 with the goal of a USD 2 billion valuation.
It’s a goal that the company has achieved today. achieved today.
Additionally, it cleared its original debt facilities. It also demonstrated financial maturity to international lenders in ’25. This was by repaying around USD 100 million in loans.
Since its founding, Moove has developed the operational platform and fleet, as well as the capital required to deploy and operate efficient human-driven ride-hail mobility assets at scale.
Moove operates one of the largest ride-hailing fleets globally. It moves with 3,300 employees worldwide, besides over 42,000 vehicles operating in 29 cities across 13 countries.
Moove has also grown to USD 420 million ARR through a combination of organic development and smart acquisitions. This involves Tokyo Taxi in Japan as well as Kovi in Brazil.
On the last occasion, Nigeria, one of the four major African tech markets alongside South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya, achieved this significant tech milestone when Moniepoint secured USD 110 million in funding.
Moniepoint—a unicorn
In October ’24, the financial services platform Moniepoint raised USD 110 million in a Series C funding round. This increased its valuation to USD 1 billion.
The Series C investment was spearheaded by Development Partners International’s African Development Partners (ADP) III fund. It’s a renowned Africa-focused enterprise.
