Moove, a Nigerian-born mobility fintech startup, said Wednesday it has raised $10 million (about Rs 83 crore at current exchange rates) in debt funding from venture debt firm Stride Ventures to expand its India operations.
This is the first time Moove is raising debt funding from an external party in India, the company said in a statement.
Moove is looking to use the capital to strengthen its presence in the country by expanding into new cities such as Delhi, Pune, and Kolkata. It is also looking to scale its fleet to more than 5,000.
The company, which has its India business headquartered in Gurgaon, has already established its presence in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad since launching a year ago.
"Our vehicles have completed over 4.2 million trips, significantly impacting India's mobility sector,” said Binod Mishra, regional managing director, India and South Asia, Moove.
Moove, Uber’s largest supply partner in Europe, Middle East and Africa, launched its India operations by partnering with the US-based ride-hailing company in 2022.
The startup was founded in 2020 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, two British-born Nigerians who studied at the London School of Economics, Oxford University and MIT. At present, the company operates in nine markets across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
Moove provides revenue-based vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs across the continent. It essentially embeds alternative credit-scoring technology in ride-hailing platforms. This enables the company to underwrite loans for customers who have traditionally faced exclusion from financial services.
The startup raised $23 million in Series A funding in August 2021. In 2022, it raised $105 million in an oversubscribed Series A2 round that included debt of $40 million from investors such as Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital, AfricInvest, MUFG Innovation Partners, Latitude and Kreos Capital.
The company also raised $76 million in new funding in August last year from investors led by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company and US asset manager BlackRock. At the time, it said it had raised more than $335 million since inception across equity and debt.
Meanwhile, Stride Ventures, led by its founder and managing partner Ishpreet Gandhi, marked the first close of its third fund at $100 million (nearly Rs 821 crore) last year. To date, it has made over 100 startup investments through its first two funds.
Some of its bets include Sugar Cosmetics, The Good Glamm Group, Mensa Brands, Zepto, Yubi (CredAvenue), BluSmart, Uni, Upstox, WayCool, MensaBrands, MediBuddy, Wiz Freight, Perfios, Moneyview, VideoVerse and Groyyo.
