Plentywaka, the Nigerian bus-hailing startup that looks to confront continent’s giants such as Uber and Egypt’s Swvl has secured $300,000 in new funding with plans to launch in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, its second city since it was launched in September last year.
“Securing investment and expanding into Abuja within our first year, in the midst of a pandemic speaks volumes of the demand for the service we provide. We are excited to have investment partners on board that see and believe in our vision. An efficient transport system is fundamental to the prosperity of any city and we believe safe, convenient, and comfortable travel should not just be for the few; but for everyone. Plentywaka in Abuja brings us closer to transforming transport in Nigeria, one state at a time,” Jonny Enagwolor, Managing Director and co-founder of Plentywaka said in a statement.
Here Is What You Need To Know
- This investment, which is the startup’s pre-seed round, was led by EMFATO, Microtraction, and Niche Capital.
- With the investment, Plentywaka would be invading Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, which is the second city, apart from Lagos, the startup would be expanding to since its launch in September 2019.
- The new funding will also assist the startup in building on its customer experience with developments to the app’s mapping technology to provide more precise tracking for journeys.
- The startup also aims to improve its services, through partnership with fintech services so users will find it easier making payments on its platform.
- Plentywaka is also currently looking for partners to bring their vehicles on board to join the Plentywaka Vehicle Partnership scheme. To this effect, the startup is looking to work with individuals, corporates, and state governments to expand its technology and fleet to provide better transportation services.
Why The Investors Invested
The startup which has a strong team made up of former founders, including founder of Farmcrowdy, Nigeria’s first digital agriculture platform, secured the pre-seed funding round partly because it has gained traction since its launch last year. Since its inception, the startup has reportedly gained over 40,000 customers, reaching a milestone of 100,000 rides after just six months of operations, an attractive milestone for investors. However, it should be noted that Plentywaka is a subsidiary of EMFATO Holdings. The startup is also relying on the strength that it is a major pioneer in the bus-hailing segment of the Nigerian e-hailing industry. There are local players that are internet-based, but Plentywaka is among those pioneering intra-city digitalised public transport in Nigeria.
“Plentywaka’s rapid growth since they launched Q3 last year has been tremendous so far,’’ Dayo Koleowo, Partner at Microtraction said. “We are glad to be partnering with a very strong team that is passionate about providing convenience, safety, and comfort to everyday commuters. The distressful and uneasy experience by the majority of these commuters, especially in large cities is evident. We are backing the Plentywaka team to change that experience for commuters progressively by creating an efficient transport system.”
Read also: ₦26bn Deal: How Interswitch Plans To Disrupt Nigeria’s Transport Business
A Look At What The Startup Does
Co-founded in September 2019, by the quartet of Afolabi Oluseyi, Enagwolor Johnny, John Shaibu, and Onyeka Akumah, Plentywaka available on Google Playstore and IOS App store, requires just a two-step process to schedule a journey and book a seat for convenient movement around a city. Following its success in the Nigerian largest commercial city of Lagos, the startup will be launching its Abuja routes, which are available for a one-week free commute for prospective users. The routes include Nyanya – Berger; Berger – Nyanya; Kubwa – Area 1; Area 1 – Kubwa; Lugbe – Area 1; Area 1 – Lugbe.
Figures released by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics in 2018 revealed that there are 11,653,871 million vehicles in Nigeria. 6,768,756, representing about 58.08 per cent are commercial vehicles while 4,739,939 (40.67 per cent) are private vehicles. Nigeria’s population has recently been projected by the United Nations to have reached a staggering 200 million. The implication of this is that 6.7 million commercial vehicles cannot serve a population of 200 million or more. Out of the 6.7 million commercial cars in Nigeria, only about 200,000 commercial vehicles are on the roads in Lagos alone, with a population of more than 17 million people.
This is even worsened by the fact that a reported 70% of people in Nigeria’s capital rely on public transport due to the lack of a robust transport system. Plentywaka hopes to help resolve this problem.
The startup is pioneering what SWVL is doing in Egypt, and its adding to the growing number of e-hailing bus-sharing services available to public transport users in Africa. Recently, Uber launched its first global bus service in Egypt, after acquiring local startup Careem in a $3.1 billion deal. SWVL which had mulled plans to expand to Lagos, Nigeria, even ahead of Plentywaka, leads the continent’s e-hailing bus-sharing service, with major presence in Egypt and Kenya, and Pakistan. The Cairo-headquartered startup is backed by some of top regional VCs including BECO Capital, Raed Ventures, Oman Technology Fund, and global names like Endeavor Catalyst and has raised over $100 million in VC money which makes it one of the best-funded startups in Africa and the best-funded startup in this category. Other notable regional players include Kenya-based bus services QuickBus and Little.
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