Autocheck, a Nigerian automotive technology business, looks to be hell-bent on acquiring all of Cheki’s operations in Africa. Autochek has gone after Cheki Kenya and Uganda again, almost a year after acquiring the brand’s businesses in Nigeria and Ghana. Both transactions were for an amount that was not revealed. Ringier One Africa Media (ROAM), which purchased Cheki in 2017, owned the two acquired vehicle classifieds businesses.
Cheki’s African operations are now limited to Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, despite the fact that those markets are virtually dormant. Consequently, the most recent purchases bring Autochek’s acquisitions of all of Cheki’s principal activities in Africa to a close.
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“Across the world, we see a new evolution of digital automotive platforms, requiring deep specialization. Specifically in Africa, we believe that Autochek is the one player with the best team and expertise to truly create a game-changing consumer experience. For ROAM Africa, this deal is more than a very good transaction: It unleashes even more focus on our strategic playbook for our other businesses,” a statement from ROAM CEO Clemens Weitz read.
With The Acquisitions Of The Cheki Brand, Autochek Becomes One Of Africa’s Leading Auto Tech Companies In A Record Time
This is a remarkable achievement for a startup formed only a year ago by former Cars45 CEO Etop Ikpe. The feat has also demonstrated the founders’ execution capacity as well as shown the implications of a key member of a startup’s team leaving due to badly managed internal conflicts.
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Last year, it was widely reported that co-founders Etop Ikpe, Sujay Tyle alongside other executives moved out of Car45 in droves. The internal quarrels reportedly started in 2019, a year after OLX Group invested over $400m in the company. Insinuations were rife in the media that the co-founders were dissatisfied with the structure of equity holding in the company.
Alone, Cheki Kenya, one of the acquired national operations of the Cheki brand, has over 700,000 users and lists over 12,000 vehicles monthly. The company also claims to have grown 80% year-on-year in the last two years.
As per the 2019 annual report of ROAM, there were over 223, 000 monthly users of Cheki in Nigeria; 23,000 users in Uganda, thereby exposing the Autochek to a large customer base to tap from.
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ROAM also reported revenues of $8.2 million and $13.4 million in 2018 and 2019 respectively, from both its Asian and African investments, pointing to a significant revenue-generating business.
“Cheki Kenya has always been sort of the crown jewel,” Autochek CEO Etop Ikpe said in an interview. “At the time, when we completed the Nigeria and Ghana acquisition, it wasn’t a conscious effort to make this happen, but it’s great that it happened.”
Across seven countries in East and West Africa, Ringier One Africa Media (ROAM) operates market-leading digital marketplaces. Local champions in key sectors, such as Jobberman.com and Brightermonday.com career platforms, Cheki.com car marketplaces, horizontal marketplaces like Expat-Dakar.com, PigiaMe.co.ke, Zoom-Tanzania.com and Qefira.com, and property platforms MaMaison.sn and BuyRentKenya.com, are all part of the ROAM portfolio. Ringer owns a 42 percent stake in One Africa Media, based in Cape Town, South Africa, and a 52 percent stake in Cheki, situated in Mauritius.
A Look At What AutoChek Does
Launched in October, 2020 and managed by a developer team in Lagos and Nairobi, Autochek is a network for consumers and businesses to buy cars, sell cars, service cars, and finance cars sales. The startup was founded by former Cars45 chief executive officer (CEO) Etop Ikpe. Autochek’s model, according to its CEO, is aimed at creating the digital infrastructure for a new system to better coordinate sales, servicing, and vehicle records of the car market in Nigeria and broader Africa.
“It’s different in the type of technology we’re building and that it’s asset light. I don’t have any inventory. I don’t buy cars. I don’t transact any [physical] cars. I don’t own any inspection locations. I don’t own any dealerships,” Ikpe said in an interview.
The company generates revenues through fees charged on consumer transactions and commissions paid by dealers and service shops on the platform. Consumers can sign up and use the Autochek app for free.
The company’s entrance into East Africa comes at a time when automotive technology businesses like as Moove, Planet42, and FlexClub are attracting investor interest as the demand for flexible vehicle finance continues to expand across the continent.
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