Autochek acquires CoinAfrique to Expand into Francophone Africa
Autochek, a pan-African automotive e-commerce company, has acquired CoinAfrique, a classified marketplace in francophone African countries, for an undisclosed sum to accelerate the penetration of its auto financing services in the region, particularly in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.
The deal, which will see CoinAfrique’s team join Autochek and assist them in running operations in the region, comes about a month after the auto financing company announced the acquisition of Moroccan automotive tech startup, KIFAL autos, allowing the firm to enter the North African market seamlessly.
Although Matthias Papet and Eric Genetre founded CoinAfrique in the Benin Republic in 2016, it has since expanded into other francophone African countries, with a presence in ten countries, including the region’s two largest economies, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal.
CoinAfrique has grown to become the leading classified marketplace for francophone Africa, allowing businesses and individuals to easily buy and sell automobiles, electronics, real estate, and other items. According to the startup, the CoinAfrique app has been downloaded over 2 million times, with 800,000 monthly active users and 60,000 new product listings per month. The CoinAfrique website, on the other hand, receives over 1.5 million monthly visitors.
CoinAfrique, which began as a venture-backed startup and has raised approximately $3.1 million in funding, was looking for either financing or an M&A transaction. It eventually went for the M&A. CoinAfrique decided with the “conviction that this is the deal we need to take the company to the next level,” according to the startup’s co-founder.
Papet stated that CoinAfrique’s classifieds business would continue to operate across various product categories, with deep integration of Autochek’s auto financing product to drive access to credit for automotive purchases. He also remarked that 50 percent of the business transacted on the CoinAfrique platform is already in the automotive category—this, more than anything, explains the deal—and that CoinAfrique can now provide access to vehicle financing and other value-added services by leveraging Autochek’s technology.
“We are excited about the opportunity to drive the penetration of auto financing across francophone Africa and to support the wider mission across Africa. We see many opportunities to unlock value for users across all the categories on our platform and to expand into new countries. We are looking forward to leveraging Autochek’s market-leading loans product and expertise to deliver more transformative experiences for our users,” Papet said.
Commenting on the deal, Etop Ikpe, CEO and co-founder of Autochek, said in a statement, “Matthias and Eric are pioneers of the classifieds model in Africa, and they have built an excellent platform with many significant partnerships with car dealers, fintech platforms, and other stakeholders in the francophone automotive sector. They are joining the Autochek family with many years of business and infrastructure development experience across Europe and
Africa, and we look forward to leveraging their expertise to improve the automotive finance value proposition across the continent.”
Autochek, already operating in Côte d’Ivoire before the acquisition, intends to use CoinAfrique’s extensive database across francophone Africa to facilitate auto financing for consumers and SMEs in the region. It also stated that it would support further Pan-African automotive industry integration to create shared value for consumers, manufacturers, financial institutions, and other stakeholders.
With this series of acquisitions, it’s clear that Autochek is developing the financial infrastructure corporation that will drive the penetration of auto financing across Africa, powered by a data analytics engine that makes it easier for financial institutions to extend credit to consumers. In addition, this acquisition expands the company’s footprint into nine new countries, while its existing markets—Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Uganda—make it operational in 15 countries.
The company has over 1,500 dealer and workshop locations across its markets and over 70 banking partners, including Access Bank, BNP Paribas, Ecobank, UBA, Bank of Africa, and NCBA Bank.
Papet stated that while he and his co-founder Genetre will be joining Autochek’s leadership team, the entire CoinAfrique team will continue to work as a subsidiary of Autochek, supporting its overall mission to make car ownership more accessible and affordable across the continent.
“Autochek claims that its loans are approved in 48 hours or less. The company makes money by charging a fee to dealers who list on its platforms and a loan facilitation commission from banks.
The company, which raised $13.1 million in a seed round in October of last year, is backed by several investors, including pan-African venture capital firms TLcom Capital, 4DX Ventures, Golden Palm Investments, Enza Capital, Lateral Capital, Norrsken22, Jam Fund, ASK Capital, and Mobility 54 Investment SAS, as well as Toyota Tsusho and CFAO Group.