Funding Alert

Nigerian mobility-tech startup MAX bags $31 million in Series B round, set to expand across Africa, build EV infrastructure

• ByStartupStory     |    December 20, 2021

Nigerian mobility tech startup Metro Africa Xpress Inc. (MAX) is planning to enter more markets across Africa as it races towards formalizing the continent’s transportation sector after securing $31 million in Series B funding.

The startup told that it will use the funding to enter Ghana and Egypt by the end of the first quarter of 2022, and other additional markets in Francophone, East and Southern Africa by the close of the same year. The funds will also be used to extend vehicle financing credit to over 100,000 drivers in the next two years.

MAX started out in 2015 as a delivery startup using motorcycles to fulfil customer orders before venturing into ride-hailing, and later into vehicle subscription and financing services – solutions it came up with based on the data from its first services.

The startup introduced vehicle financing in 2018, and in just over two years, CFO Guy-Bertrand Njoya told TechCrunch, the churn rate by drivers affiliated to them has crashed to “close 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 now extend vehicle purchase loans to drivers, using data provided by the mobility company in credit risk assessment. As part of its catalogue of services, MAX plans to build electric vehicle infrastructure in its new markets, with the intention of introducing EVs to its emerging clientele.

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