Global Mobility Company MOOVE Raises $250M Series C Funding Round At $2.1B Valuation – AfroTech
Six years since its founding, MOOVE continues to raise new capital to further its presence in Africa.
MOOVE, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, is the brainchild of Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi. TechCrunch reports it was formed as a vehicle financing startup, then scaled to service ride-hailing and deliveries in Africa, before branching out to owning autonomous vehicles.
“Let’s create a product where we own, operate, and orchestrate autonomous vehicles, and let’s go and find partners to do it with — and that’s essentially what we did. In 2023, we started talking to every single AV company you could imagine, and as you know — God would have it, luck would have it — we managed to partner with Waymo first,” Delano said of the move to autonomous vehicles, per the outlet.
MOOVE operates nearly 42,000 vehicles across 29 cities in 13 countries and credits some of its growth to acquisitions, including Kovi in Brazil and Tokyo Taxi in Japan, according to a press release. MOOVE’s annual recurring revenue has reached $420 million.
The company has now raised $250 million in a Series C funding round at a $2.1 billion valuation to scale its autonomous fleet ownership and robotics-first depot infrastructure. The funding will also help MOOVE reach new markets worldwide, per the press release. The round was led by Mubadala Investment Co. and co-led by Woven Capital (Toyota’s Growth Fund) and Ion Pacific. BlueCrest Capital Management, Sona Asset Management, and The Raptor Group also invested in the round, alongside Moove’s network of investors, which includes BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, Uber, Left Lane, Silverbacks Holdings, Square Associates, The Latest Ventures, and the Ontario Power Generation Pension Plan.
The funding comes at a time when MOOVE is aiming to scale its autonomous vehicle workforce by more than 220% by the end of 2026. It already employs 3,300 people worldwide and is a fleet operator for Waymo in Phoenix, Miami, and Las Vegas, and later London, per TechCrunch. Delano noted the company is working to improve mobility and empower autonomous journeys globally.
“Every major technology revolution becomes an infrastructure race. The internet required data centres. AI required compute. Autonomy requires fleets, charging, maintenance, data systems and 24/7 operations in every city – and that is what Moove is building. In our view, as autonomy scales, infrastructure ownership and operations will define the category leaders. We are building to be one of them,” Delano said in the press release.
