A Nigerian startup that began by helping motorbike and taxi drivers own their vehicles has just become one of Africa’s most valuable tech companies, and its next chapter looks nothing like its first.
Moove has closed a $250 million Series C funding round that values the company at $2.1 billion, making it Africa’s newest unicorn. The round was led by Mubadala Investment Company, with Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, and Ion Pacific as co-leads. New backers BlueCrest Capital Management, Sona Asset Management, and The Raptor Group joined, while existing investors including BlackRock, Uber, Franklin Templeton, and Endeavor Catalyst deepened their positions.
Founded in 2020 in Lagos by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove started out financing vehicles for ride-hailing drivers shut out of traditional credit, letting them pay through daily earnings. That model worked. The company has reached an annual recurring revenue run rate of $420 million, aided by organic expansion and acquisitions including Brazil-based Kovi and Tokyo Taxi in Japan.
Now Moove is pivoting hard toward autonomous vehicles. The capital is earmarked for Moove’s push into autonomous vehicle fleet ownership and the build-out of Nests, depot facilities where self-driving cars will be charged, serviced, and maintained. The company is already operating autonomous fleets in Phoenix and Miami in partnership with Waymo, and London is planned as its first international expansion.
Moove plans to grow its autonomous mobility workforce from around 150 employees to approximately 500 by the end of 2026.
The $250 million round is the second-largest equity funding round announced by an African startup in 2026, behind electric mobility company Spiro’s $270 million round in June. Together, the two rounds accounted for 44 percent of all equity funding raised by African startups in 2026 as of mid-August, highlighting the increasing concentration of capital in a small number of large, established technology companies.
