The story of Nigerian mobility startup, Shuttlers, will remain a lesson for startups in Africa seeking to boostrap, against the odds. After several years of bootstrapping ,the startup which is a tech-enabled scheduled bus sharing” service led by a female founder, has attracted the attention of investors who have poured in $1.6 million in seed funding.
The round was led by the Chicago and Africa-focused investment firm, VestedWorld. Local companies as well as investors, including fintech unicorn Interswitch, Africa-focused VCs Rising Tide Africa, Launch Africa, EchoVC, Consonance Investment, CcHub Syndicate, CMC 21 & Alsa, ShEquity, Five35, Sakore and Nikky Taurus also took part in this round of investment.
“We were not actively looking for investors; however, there is now more attention in the shared mobility industry because of companies like SWVL. Now, investors are interested in this and think local mobility plays can be valuable solutions,” CEO Damilola Olokesusi said. “We just made the right decision for the company at this particular right time so we can get ready for the opportunity that happens after. Now we are ready to take over the African market, starting with Nigeria and West African markets in the next couple of months.”
What Drew The Investors In?
Shuttlers has grown by leaps and bounds since 2016, despite only raising $3,000 from friends and family and grants. The company says that its mobile app and website have over 10,000 users. On its platform, more than 100 unbranded and branded buses travel over 30 routes in Lagos, stopping at over 300 bus stops. Since the company’s beginning, they have documented more than 2 million travels. Olokesusi also stated that her company sells over 6,000 bus tickets per day, implying that over 3,000 individuals go in both directions on a regular basis.
According to Nneka Eze, the managing director at lead investor VestedWorld, the “investment will help Shuttlers extend its offering to adjacent markets and help solve inefficiencies in the transportation sector across regions in Africa.”
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A Look At What Shuttlers Does
Shuttlers was formed in 2016 by CEO Damilola Olokesusi, a former chemical engineering graduate who once worked with an oil and gas firm, to address the issue of inefficient transportation expenditures in Lagos, Nigeria’s most famous city. Shuttlers provides enterprises with greater mobility options for their employees through its ridesharing platform.
The startup did not have a working mobile app when it first started in 2017. Instead, it used an unorthodox online strategy to engage with its customers, including Slack, email, and WhatsApp.
Even so, it was enough to get its first set of commercial clients on board. Shuttlers’ first B2B2C client, according to Olokesusi, was tech talent unicorn Andela.
The B2B2C plan is one of three main Shuttlers options; it allows employers to split transportation fares with their employees in any way they see suitable. B2B, in which company clients pay for all of their employees’ fares, and B2C, in which individual customers pay for their own fares, are the others.
Shuttlers now has a fully working app that allows mobile professionals on its three plans to schedule rides, thanks to a redesign in 2019. Commuters can book a seat on one of the buses that travel along planned and scheduled itineraries using the platform.
Commuters who use its service instead of competing ride-hailing services “without surges and peak-period pricing” save 80 percent, according to the business.
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Live bus tracking, traffic-based routing, and digital payments are among the other features, according to the business. It also includes a subscription feature that allows commuters to plan rides ahead of time for a set length of time.
“Our mission is to transform the way people commute around the world by building a global partner network and connecting communities of shuttlers like we are presently doing in Lagos, Nigeria,” Olokesusi said in a statement.
The company has started operations in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, but Olokesusi does not disclose where else Shuttlers will expand to next, both within and outside of Nigeria.
Olokesusi is one of the few female African founders that have raised a large amount of money from venture capitalists this year. But her path to Shuttlers was by chance, as she tells me, as working in an oil and gas corporation was the first job she desired after graduating from university with a degree in chemical engineering.
Shuttlers mobility Shuttlers mobility
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 write