Five years ago, a mobility startup in Lagos handed keys to 76 vehicles and asked ride-hailing drivers to pay from their daily fares. That company just crossed a threshold that very few African-founded businesses ever reach.
Moove, co-founded by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, has expanded from financing gig drivers into building the operational backbone for autonomous vehicles. The scale of what it just pulled off will force anyone watching African tech to recalibrate.
Moove closes $250 million round at a $2.1 billion valuation
Moove announced on August 5 that it raised $250 million in a Series C round, pushing the company’s valuation to $2.1 billion. Mubadala Investment Company led the round, with Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund, and Ion Pacific as co-leads.
New investors BlueCrest Capital Management, Sona Asset Management, and The Raptor Group joined existing backers including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Uber. The round is the largest single fundraising disclosed by an African startup so far in 2026, Businessday reported.
The capital will fund Moove’s autonomous vehicle business, including fleet ownership and depot infrastructure the company calls Nests. These are robotics-first sites where self-driving vehicles are charged, serviced, maintained, and dispatched continuously.
“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,” Delano said in the announcement.
How Moove scaled from Lagos drivers to 42,000 vehicles in 13 countries
Delano and Odunsi launched Moove in Lagos in 2020 to finance vehicles for ride-hailing drivers locked out of traditional credit. Drivers repaid loans from daily earnings on platforms like Uber, for which Moove became the largest global fleet partner.
The company raised $76 million in 2023 and then closed a $100 million Series B backed by Uber in March 2024 at a $750 million valuation, the company announced at the time. That round marked Uber’s first direct investment on the African continent, Condia reported.
Strategic acquisitions fueled further growth, including the full purchase of Kovi in Brazil and Tokyo Taxi in Japan. Moove now employs roughly 3,300 people, operates about 42,000 vehicles across 29 cities, and generates $420 million in annualized recurring revenue.
Moove’s Waymo partnership and the robotaxi infrastructure play
The pivot driving Moove’s new valuation is its partnership with Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving unit. Moove is already one of the largest third-party autonomous fleet operators, with operations live in Phoenix and Miami, and London confirmed next.
Moove’s thesis is that nobody in the robotaxi ecosystem wants to own the physical fleet or handle depot-level logistics. Autonomous vehicle developers build software, and ride-hail platforms match riders, but neither manages charging or maintenance, WeeTracker reported, citing Delano.
The company expects to grow its autonomous vehicle workforce by more than 220% by year-end, from roughly 150 employees to about 500. Betty Lee, principal at Woven Capital, said Moove has shown an exceptional ability to execute across markets.
What Moove’s unicorn status signals for Nigeria’s startup ecosystem
The $2.1 billion valuation places Moove among Africa’s small group of tech unicorns, alongside Flutterwave, OPay, Moniepoint, and Interswitch. It also makes Moove the continent’s most valuable mobility startup, overtaking Egypt’s MNT-Halan and Algeria’s Yassir.
African startup funding fell 27% between January and July 2026, with only 241 startups raising at least $100,000, Africa: The Big Deal data showed. Moove’s round stands out as a signal that investors are favoring companies that combine technology with physical assets and operational scale.
Mubadala’s Ali Eid AlMheiri described the investment as a commitment to scalable platforms that support economic diversification and strengthen the UAE’s position in advanced technologies.
Key takeaways for investors and readers
- Moove raised $250 million at a $2.1 billion valuation, the largest single round by an African startup in 2026.
- Capital will fund autonomous vehicle fleet ownership, robotics-first Nest depots, and workforce expansion from 150 to 500.
- Moove operates 42,000 vehicles across 29 cities in 13 countries with $420 million in annualized recurring revenue.
- The Waymo partnership positions Moove as one of the largest third-party autonomous fleet operators globally.
