Uber backed by Moove, a mobility born in Africa, which offers vehicles funding for applications and delivery to six continents, has acquired Kovi’s urban mobility provider, Brazilian urban mobility.
The value of the agreement is not revealed, but Moove confirmed that it was an All-Share transaction, and Kovi is now entirely owned by Moove.
Moove’s co-founder and co-director Ladi Delano told TechCrunch that the deal was hitting the annual fintech mobility revenue of $ 275 million. Last March, Moove reported an ARR of $ 115 million.
The news comes two months after Moove’s announcement a partnership with Waymo to provide car fleet -free fuses in two US, Phoenix and Miami cities.
Delano said the acquisition of Stered Kovi’s Kovi -based Kovi is a significant step towards the company’s goal of building the largest rideshare fleet in the world. What started with 76 cars in Lagos, Nigeria in 2020, has now increased in 36,000 cars operating in 19 cities in six continents, with Latin America emerging now as a key market.
Similarly, the acquisition unites two companies facing the same challenge – providing funding solutions for Rideshare drivers. Founded in 2018, the Kovi backed by the Combinator began to make vehicles more affordable in Brazil. Following the acquisition, pending the approval of the Brazilian antitrust, Kovi will continue to operate with its brand, while executive and management teams will remain unchanged.
While Moove will keep the Kovi brand operating in its existing markets, Brazil and Mexico, there are plans to expand further throughout Latin America. Moove recently launched businesses in three cities across Colombia and Mexico. Therefore, the acquisition of Moove’s position in Latin America, giving the company a significant position in Brazil, the largest market in the region.
“We are incredibly excited to work with a fantastic group of like -minded people in Kovi who created this business to deal with a similar problem we found in Nigeria,” he noted. “Kovi is one of the first two players in Brazil. Therefore, we have not entered or reinforced our presence in the Latin American market, but we also put ourselves in a top two place in the largest single market in Latin America through this redemption. “
Moove has built a third pillar in the world mobility market, offering the supply of vehicles to platforms. This includes the flagship of the product that leads to the same, a taxi and employment model and an emerging autonomous business line (AV) that includes mobility based on the AI.
While AI plays a key role in its AV business line, Delano reports that the company’s AI mobility strategy will cover the whole business, from optimizing traditional ride services in improving fleet management, according to Delano. This is where the acquisition of Kovi is coming. According to the Managing Director, Kovi’s privately owned technology and algorithms will “complement and enhance the existing Moove AI mobility strategy and ensure that we can start providing an improved service and product to our customers worldwide. ”
It is not clear if Kovi was fighting financially before acquiring Moove. The last well -known funding tour was a series of $ 104 million in 2021 from investors such as Valor Capital, Prosus Ventures and Quona Capital. Despite raising funds for the expansion of Latin America, Kovi focused mainly on Brazil. That year, he reported $ 45 million to ARR, increasing 15% per month to month.
The All-Share transaction makes the shareholders of Kovi’s investors in Moove, aligning their tract growth. In a statement, Kovi’s CEO Adhemar Milani Neto expressed confidence in the deal. ‘I met the founders [Moove’s Delano and Jide Odunsi] Many years back, when they escalate their business in Africa and I was immediately impressed by their approach to purpose, which is also a perfect correspondence with our culture. Together, I believe we will become a truly global business that will determine the category and make use of the scale and deep know -how it has never seen in our market. “
Moove increased a series of $ 100 million Uber B last year to $ 750 million. Fintech mobility has secured more than $ 500 million in debt and shares from supporters such as Mubadala, Blackrock, Franklin Templeton, Janus Henderson and IFC (World Bank) from its release five years ago.
Delano refused to comment on possible new attempts to raise capital. Instead, he stressed that the company will focus on driving Capex-Heavy in profitability this year and realize its vision of building the largest fleet hitting worldwide.
