Metro Africa Xpress Inc. (MAX), a Nigerian transportation tech business, has raised $31 million in a Series B fundraising round.
The latest round of funding was headed by Lightrock, a global private equity platform that is making its first investment in the African mobility industry. Global Ventures, a UAE-based international venture capital firm, as well as current investors Novastar Ventures and Proparco, a French development finance agency, participated in the round through their Digital Africa project.
The business plans to utilize the funds to expand into Ghana and Egypt by the end of the first quarter of 2022, as well as other Francophone, East, and Southern African markets by the end of the year. In the next two years, the monies will also be utilized to give vehicle financing credit to approximately 100,000 drivers.
A Look At What The Startup Does
MAX began as a delivery company in 2015, using motorcycles to fulfill client orders, before expanding into ride-hailing and, later, vehicle subscription and finance services, all of which were developed using data from its first services.
In just over two years, the business introduced vehicle finance, and according to CFO Guy-Bertrand Njoya, the churn rate among drivers linked with them has dropped to “near to zero.”
“We spent time understanding drivers’ operations and it became apparent to us that most of them don’t own the vehicles they use,” said Njoya.
“It became clear that the fundamental issue that drivers face is consistent access to vehicles. And that is when we realized that if we are to be successful at solving the challenge of mobility across the continent, we have to first address the issue of vehicle access.”
MAX’s commercial bank partners are now extending vehicle purchase loans to drivers, based on credit risk assessment data provided by the mobility provider.
Read also : African Business, Political Leaders Start Dialogue on Green Initiative
MAX intends to establish electric car infrastructure in its new markets as part of its service offering, with the goal of providing EVs to its growing clientele.
“It is another milestone in our journey to make mobility safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable by deploying high-performance technologies and operators. The investment will enable us to transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of drivers across the continent, accelerate international expansion, and continue our pioneering initiatives in the mobility space,” said MAX co-founder and CEO Adetayo Bamiduro. Chinedu Azodoh is the startup’s other co-founder.
MAX’s operations have been centered on finding answers to mobility difficulties, therefore the next conundrum it needed to solve was increasing driver earnings while lowering their operational costs.
Read also : IBS Intelligence Launches Report on Digital Wallets: The Future of Payments
The founders rapidly understood that adding electric vehicles was the logical next step, and MAX began its electric mobility journey in 2019. Currently, the company offers two-, three-, and four-wheeler electric vehicles to drivers through a variety of leasing and financing alternatives.
MAX Series B MAX Series B
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