Kenya just got a new transport player on its mobility scene. Joining Swvl, Little and others on long distance bus-hailing is the Nairobi based bus booking platform QuickBus. Along with its official launch, the startup has also secured an undisclosed seed round in a round led by UAE-based venture capital firm Shorooq Partners.
Here Is All You Need To Know
- The funding round was led by UAE-based venture capital firm Shorooq Partners, the leading seed stage venture capital fund in the MENA region.
- Joining this round of investment are investors such as Echo VC and the Oman Technology Fund.
- The startup plans to use the fund to grow its model, which is relatively a less explored territory in Kenya.
Why The Investors Invested
- Quite surprising is the investment from Shorooq Partners which is notable for concentrating its investment in the Middle East and North Africa region. Choosing to invest in the Kenyan market may be one of its few outside the MENA region. Shorooq Partners invests in fintech, platform, software and tech-enabled business bervices. Launched in 2016, Shorooq’s Founders built their careers as investment professionals in the venture capital and private equity sectors across the UAE, Europe, NYC and Silicon Valley. The Fund benefits from the partners’ experience, expertise and resources and invests in seed-stage, technology-based startups, mostly across the GCC and the MENA region.
“Having grown up and operated businesses in the region I have experienced firsthand that the opportunity in the long-distance mobility space in Africa is massive and having seen this segment disrupted in other emerging markets we were actively studying the East African market to see who was leading the way,” said Kunal Savjani Partner at Shorooq Partners.
- The Sub- Saharan region has a total of US$24.2 billion spent on bus tickets.
A Look At What QuickBus Does
- Founded in 2018 by British founder Humphrey Wrey, QuickBus enables bus travellers to compare prices and book tickets on its platform.
- The platform allows passengers to easily book bus tickets at a the click of a button or through their smartphone or a basic feature phone, from the convenience of their homes and offices.
“When you book a bus you should know more than the price and the destination, you should also know more about the experience you’re going to have, because knowing if your 18-hour journey will be very uncomfortable or quite comfortable is valuable information. That was the genesis of the QuickBus idea,” QuickBus Founder and Chief Executive Humphrey Wrey said.
“Women can now choose to be seated next to other women on night buses, to create more security for female travellers. This will boost service and efficiency across the sector, bringing offline operators online and raising the standard of bus transportation in general, to the benefit of all passengers,” he added.
- QuickBus has operations in Kenya, Angola and Uganda
According to Wrey, “We’re working very closely with bus operators who are seeing exponential growth in tickets processed through our platform as each market increasingly gets accustomed to the convenience of booking bus tickets online and through the app.”
- OuickBus has also secured partnerships in a further seven major markets across the continent and is aiming to cover most of the sub-Saharan Africa region in the next three years, serving a market of 800 million people.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com