Moove is the Uber-backed Nigerian fintech mobility startup. Kovi is a car rental startup based in Brazil, Latin America’s largest ride-hailing marketplace. The acquisition continues to expand the startup’s global reach, which is currently active in 19 cities on five continents.
This acquisition is a stock-only transaction, which makes Kovi’s shareholders shareholders in Moove. Kovi has raised more than $145 million in funding from investors such as Accel, Spectra Investments and Quona Capital. Kovi’s investors now own shares of Moove, which has raised $500 million in debt from investors such as Uber, Mubadala and BlackRock. Other investors include Janus Henderson, Franklin Templeton and the International Finance Corporation. Uber’s Series B, where it raised $100m, valued Moove as $750m. The acquisition will also be important for Moove’s AI mobility strategies, which will cover the entire business from optimising ride-hailing to improving fleet management.
Kovi’s proprietary technology will complement and strengthen our existing move AI Mobility strategy and ensure we can start to provide an improved service and product around the world.
The deal will increase Moove’s revenue to $275million. This deal also continues Moove’s expansion outside Africa. The company already operates across Latin America, in Colombia and Mexico. With the acquisition of Kovi, it will be able to further consolidate its presence. Moove has a fleet of 36,000 cars in 19 cities on five continents. The company aims to become the largest ride-share fleet in the world outside of Africa.
Their purpose-driven approach matches perfectly with our culture. Together, I think we will become truly global category-defining businesses and will leverage scale & deep expertise not seen in our market,” stated Kovi CEO Adhemar Milani Neto.
