Nigeria’s Metro Africa Xpress (MAX), a vehicle subscription platform that prides itself on low-to-zero emission vehicles, has raised $31 million in a Series B funding round, and the funding will be used to expand its business across Africa and to build EV infrastructure, according to media reports.
The company also mentioned that it will use the funds to expand into Ghana and Egypt by the end of the first quarter of 2022 along with some additional markets in Francophone, East and Southern Africa by the close of the same year. Additionally, the funds will be utilised o extend vehicle financing credit to over 100,000 drivers in the next two years.
Guy-Bertrand Njoya, CFO of Max, told the media, “We spent time understanding drivers’ operations and it became apparent to us that most of them don’t own the vehicles they use. 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.” The company introduced vehicle financing in 2018, and in just over two years, the churn rate by drivers affiliated with them has crashed to close to zero.
MAX was founded by Adetayo Bamiduro and Chinedu Azodoh in 2015 and is working towards building the rails for Africa’s mobility. The company delivers integrated, affordable, and collateral-free vehicle subscription packages such as zero-emission vehicles, insurance, healthcare, maintenance, and e-hailing subscriptions. The company also aims to maximize revenues and minimize costs. MAX has previously raised a $40 million round of institutional debt for its driver financing.