Nigerian Mobility Startup, MAX, Raises $31m Series B Round
Nigerian transportation tech business, Metro Africa Xpress Inc. (MAX), has raised $31m in a Series B fundraising round. The latest round of funding was headed by Lightrock, a global private equity platform that is making its first investment in the African mobility industry.
Global Ventures, a UAE-based international venture capital firm, as well as current investors Novastar Ventures and Proparco, a French development finance agency, participated in the round through their Digital Africa project.
MAX was launched in 2015 by Adetayo Bamiduro and Chinedu Azodoh to address last-mile delivery and online retail problems by using mobile and web platforms.
MAX’s platforms connect consumers, retail businesses, and independent drivers in real-time, eliminating all logistics and technology barriers that have historically prevented retail businesses in Africa from realizing their full potential.
MAX co-founder and CEO Adetayo Bamiduro spoke on the impact the latest funding will have on the startup as he called it a ‘Milestone’.
“It is another milestone in our journey to make mobility safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable by deploying high-performance technologies and operators.
“The investment will enable us to transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of drivers across the continent, accelerate international expansion, and continue our pioneering initiatives in the mobility space,” said Adetayo.
MAX currently offers two-, three-, and four-wheeler electric vehicles to drivers through a variety of leasing and financing alternatives, as it centers its operations on providing mobility solutions across Africa.
CFO Guy-Bertrand Njoya speaking said: “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 plans to utilize the funds to expand into Ghana and Egypt by the end of the first quarter of 2022, as well as other Francophone, East, and Southern African markets by the end of the year. In the next two years, the monies will also be utilized to give vehicle financing credit to approximately 100,000 drivers.