Shuttlers, a Nigerian shared mobility company, has raised $4 million in a new funding round led by Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), with participation from follow-on investors, SheEquity, CMC 21 & Alsa, and EchoVC, and VestedWorld.  

Since its launch in 2016, Shuttlers has been providing partner companies in Lagos and Abuja with a bus-sharing platform that offers mobility options for their employees. The startup aims to address the transportation challenges faced by professionals who commute daily or several times a week in Africa’s most populous city, Lagos.

Why the Investors Invested

Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures backed Shuttlers due to the company’s environmental impact and commitment to creating positive social impact. The bus-hailing platform encourages the use of public transportation, decreasing private car ownership and inner-city congestion. Ory Okolloh, a partner at VKAV, stated, “[Shuttlers’] commitment to creating impact aligns with our vision for investing in entrepreneurs who are solving significant challenges and companies who have a positive impact on society.”

What Shuttlers Does

Shuttlers’ business primarily focuses on corporate trips and commutes, with its clientele comprising 80+ companies, including Interswitch, MainOne, and Paga. The platform allows employees to book seats on buses along predetermined and scheduled routes, with features such as live bus tracking, optimal routing based on traffic, digital payments, and ride schedules. It has three payment plans for companies, split fares, and individual customers, with fares ranging from N850 ($1.96) and N1300 ($2.60).

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With almost 260 buses covering 300 routes across Lagos and Abuja daily, the mobility startup has recorded over 3 million trips and sells over 9,000 tickets daily to individual and corporate passengers. Shuttlers’ carbon footprint reduction by 85% (about 4 million pounds of carbon dioxide emission) has helped the platform stand out in Nigeria’s bus-hailing market. The additional financing secured by the 55-man team will help build infrastructure to power its mass transit business, enable employee transportation for more corporates, and increase market share as it expands to other cities within Nigeria.

Shuttlers’ CEO, Damilola Olokesusi, said, “Our main focus is to take over the bus-sharing space and be this huge startup that, you know, is very profitable.” The startup intends to go live in five other cities across the country by next year.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard