Main Highlights:
- Metro Africa Xpress Inc. (MAX), a Nigerian mobility technology company that just acquired $31 million in Series B funding, wants to expand into more markets around Africa as part of its effort to formalize the continent’s transportation sector.
- According to Njoya, they analyzed drivers’ activities and discovered that the vast majority do not own the vehicles they operate.
- MAX plans to create electric vehicle infrastructure as part of its portfolio of services in new markets to offer EVs to its growing customer base.
Metro Africa Xpress Inc. (MAX), a Nigerian mobility technology business that just raised $31 million in Series B funding, plans to expand into additional markets across Africa as it works to formalize the continent’s transportation sector. The business plans to utilize the money to expand into Ghana and Egypt by the end of the first quarter of 2022 and other countries in Francophone, East, and Southern Africa by the end of the year.
Additionally, the monies will be utilized to credit vehicle financing to approximately 100,000 drivers over the following two years. MAX began in 2015 as a motorbike delivery firm before expanding into ride-hailing and eventually into car subscription and finance services — solutions it developed based on data from its original offerings.
The business began offering vehicle finance in 2018, and in less than two years, CFO Guy-Bertrand Njoya stated that the churn rate for drivers linked with them has dropped to near-zero. Njoya stated that they spent time analyzing drivers’ operations and discovered that most of them do not own the vehicles they operate. It became evident that the underlying issue confronting drivers is consistent vehicle access. And it is at this point; they realize that if they are to succeed in resolving the continent’s mobility crisis, they must first solve the issue of automobile access.
MAX’s Extension
MAX’s commercial bank partners are now extending vehicle purchase loans to drivers based on credit risk data provided by the mobility company. MAX intends to establish electric car infrastructure in its new markets as part of its portfolio of services, to offer EVs to its increasing clientele.
Adetayo Bamiduro, co-founder and CEO of MAX. Chinedu Azodoh, another co-founder of the firm, stated that this is another milestone in their mission to make mobility safe, inexpensive, accessible, and sustainable through the deployment of high-performance technologies and operators. The funding will allow them to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of drivers throughout the continent, accelerate worldwide expansion, and pursue pioneering mobility projects.
MAX’s activities have been centered on resolving mobility difficulties, and the next puzzle it sought to solve was increasing driver earnings while lowering operational expenses.
The creators quickly recognized that expanding into electric vehicles would be a natural next step, and in 2019, MAX began its adventure into electric mobility. Currently, the company supplies drivers with two-, three-, and four-wheeler EVs via a variety of leasing and financing alternatives.
Njoya stated that this is an additional choice they wanted to present drivers because they worry about earning a living wage. For them, electric mobility will be a significant driver of that goal, as EVs are now more cost-effective than their gas-powered counterparts.
What does MAX do now?
MAX now designs and manufactures its electric motorcycle series. Njoya stated that they supply their EVs with partners across the ecosystem, including Yamaha, a prominent motorbike manufacturer. Njoya stated that they collaborate with Yamaha in driver access to automobiles and financing. Yamaha today established a specialized driver vehicle finance business for Africa due to the work they’ve been conducting with them over the last couple of years.
The latest capital round was headed by global private equity firm Light rock, investing in the African mobility industry for the first time. Global Ventures, an international venture capital firm based in the United Arab Emirates, and current investors Novastar Ventures and Proparco, the French development finance organization, participated in the round through their Digital Africa project.
Njoya stated that the firm aims to become the preferred vehicle subscription and financial services platform for the continent’s millions of transport operators. They recently teamed with Estonian ride-hailing business Bolt on a lease-to-own deal that will enable 10,000 of the platform’s drivers in Nigeria to obtain fuel-efficient automobiles.
