">
TechMoran
  • About Us
  • Deals
  • Jobs
  • Motoring
    • Money
  • Pitch Your Startup
  • Submit Your Post
  • Freelance Gigs
  • Travel
  • Men’s Corner
  • Dating
Friday, January 22, 2021
  • Startups
  • Reviews
  • Insider
    • Obituaries
  • Business
  • Women
  • Blockchain
  • Columnists
  • Hacks & Facts
    • How To
  • Editions
    • US Edition
    • India Edition
    • MENA Edition
    • Asia Edition
    • Europe Edition
    • International Edition
No Result
View All Result
TechMoran
">
Home Startups

SafeBoda finally launches in Nigeria to take on Max, GoKada, ORide

Sam Wakoba by Sam Wakoba
1 year ago
in Startups
15 min read
0

SafeBoda, a popular ride-hailing platform founded in East Africa has launched in Ibadan, Nigeria, a year after it launched in Nairobi, Kenya, making Nigeria its third African market after it went live in Uganda four years ago.

SafeBoda, founded in November 2014 in Kampala by Alastair Sussock, Ricky Thompson,  Maxime Dieudonne and Clarisse Iribagiza will compete with Nigeria’s Max, GoKada, ORide, among others in Africa’s biggest consumer market.

Image

Available on both Android or iOS apps,  SafeBoda allows users to hail SafeBoda drivers to pick up passengers or courier via smartphone apps securely. The firm says it has vetted and trained its drivers to provide a safe and secure means of transport to people’s homes and places of work in a move to help reduce road accidents, curb casualties, deaths, and the costs of footing expensive hospital bills.

Starting in Kampala, SafeBoda is looking to bring sanity to roads in Africa then India by training riders who are increasingly becoming more and more unpopular on our roads in several cities in Africa. The launch in Nigeria was its next natural move for its pan-African expansion.

SafeBoda trains the riders on road safety, bike repair and maintenance, basic first aid and customer service. SafeBoda gives its riders two helmets for both the passenger and rider and a reflective jacket embedded with the rider’s name for safety of the passengers.

Happy New Month Nigeria, your SafeBoda is here pic.twitter.com/zUKDtOSllY

— SafeBoda Nigeria (@SafeBoda_NGA) December 1, 2019

The launch in Nigeria has taken longer than expected because the firm needed to hire, understand the market, and sign up riders. There are reports too that the firm struggled with what model to go with as normally, in East Africa riders sign up with their own motorcycles while it needed to own a fleet in the Nigerian market and then lease them out to riders on a lease-to-own model.

READ  WorkPay, formerly TozzaPlus raises $2.1m to scale its HR & Payroll Management Tools for SMBs in East Africa

The lease-to-own model is costly, unlike the aggregator model which the firm has long used in East Africa. The aggregator model is simpler and it requires less capital compared to the lease-to-own model which is more capital intensive and time-consuming even though it gives the company more control.

Related posts

Aerobotics Raises $17 Million Led by Naspers To Scale AI for Agriculture Globally

January 21, 2021
0

Tanzanian money remittance startup NALA is launching in the UK

January 21, 2021
0

Startup Guide to release of Startup Guide Nairobi

January 21, 2021
0
Cheerful young businessman in round spectacles and formal wear, checks newsfeed on modern smart phone, connected to wireless internet, has happy look as recieves positive news from colleagues

TransUnion partners SA’s financial marketplace, Fincheck, to make the credit application process easier and less frustrating

January 20, 2021
0

Seven months ago, SafeBoda raised funding and said it will be venturing heavily into mobile payments and insurance. The funding was to help the firm with its expansion in East Africa and across the continent and probably outside the continent as SafeBoda has plans to expand to India and into emerging markets.

“Our investment in SafeBoda underlines our continued commitment to growth markets. We are excited to participate in the development of ride-hailing ecosystems in Africa,” said Oliver Ullrich, Corporate Development Director at Allianz X. “SafeBoda has successfully established itself in the ride-hailing market in Uganda and we look forward to supporting the company’s expansion into additional countries and services.”

Allianz intends to leverage its regional presence and capabilities, working with SafeBoda to transform transportation, logistics, and payment sectors in Africa, starting in Kampala, Uganda and Nairobi, Kenya.

“SafeBoda is excited to have Allianz X join our investor group, particularly as we deepen our platform and add a number of important FinTech services for both SafeBoda drivers and passengers,” said Alastair Sussock, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of SafeBoda. “We are confident that collaborating with Allianz will enable us to grow the business and impact the wider community across East and West Africa.”

READ  Visa launches She's next Global Campaign to Support Women-Owned Startups 

SafeBoda is taking on firms in Nigeria such as Max which in June announced a $6 million injection from Novastar Ventures, Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Zrosk Investment Management, and Goodwell Investments plus $1 million in grants. Opay backed ORide is also not paying games in Nigeria with its recent addition of OTrike.

These firms aim to go beyond transport and logistics to financial services for users in Africa. OPay has also rolled its infrastructure in almost all services categories such as food, transport, etc.

According to Adetayo Bamiduro, MAX.ng CEO and Co-founder, in a company statement. “MAX is building technology infrastructure and financial services to make mobility safe, affordable and accessible to 1 billion Africans. This isn’t just about building mobile apps. It is about creating financial, technology and operating infrastructure where it never existed.”

Another player, Gokada, announced a $5.3m Series A funding round to become the operating system of how cities function optimally and efficiently across Africa. The firm said it will use the funds to deploy its investment to expand its driver fleet, increase daily rides by 10 fold and acquire local tech talent. In addition, the company will explore new verticals for business growth. The new verticals mean it will venture into businesses such as loans, messaging, payments, insurance among others to be more like Asia’s super app GoJek.

Nigeria is becoming a huge arena for play for hailing and fintech firms especially because of its population, access to financial services and the entrepreneurial spirit among its people.

To show how lucrative the African market is, OPay, Opera’s fintech platform recently raised a $120 million Series B round to expand its product portfolio as well as expand across Africa.

READ  Insurance comparison site Afrinsure.com wants to increase penetration of insurance products in Kenya

OPay said it will use the funds to scale its operations in Nigeria and launch its services in Kenya, Ghana and South Africa. The firm in June raised $50 million to double down on Nigeria.

“OPay will facilitate the people in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya  and other African countries with the best fintech ecosystem. We see ourselves as a key contributor to helping local businesses thrive,” Opera CEO and OPay Chairman Yahui Zhou, said in a statement to TechCrunch.

After the raise, Opay has launched OCar, an Uber and Bolt killer starting in Lagos, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Benin adding to its OBus, ORide, OFood, OList, OTrike and OLeads.

Readers 5,408

Share

  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Sam Wakoba

Sam Wakoba

Taking you on tour through Africa's tech ecosystem, one startup at a time! [email protected]

Related Posts

Startups

Aerobotics Raises $17 Million Led by Naspers To Scale AI for Agriculture Globally

January 21, 2021
0
Startups

Tanzanian money remittance startup NALA is launching in the UK

January 21, 2021
0
Startups

Startup Guide to release of Startup Guide Nairobi

January 21, 2021
0
Cheerful young businessman in round spectacles and formal wear, checks newsfeed on modern smart phone, connected to wireless internet, has happy look as recieves positive news from colleagues
Startups

TransUnion partners SA’s financial marketplace, Fincheck, to make the credit application process easier and less frustrating

January 20, 2021
0
Startups

Autochek opens Accra office to bolster its customer acquisition efforts

January 20, 2021
0
Startups

Ghana’s Zeepay raises $940 000 seed capital from GOODsoil VC for expansion

January 20, 2021
0
Education

Nigeria’s uLesson raises $7.5m series A for expansion into Eastern & Southern Africa

January 19, 2021
0
Startups

This VC firm is Calling for Changes to Cut-and-paste VC Strategy In Africa

January 18, 2021
0

https://bit.ly/2VOxuoBhttps://bit.ly/2VOxuoBhttps://bit.ly/2VOxuoB
ADVERTISEMENT

Join our Mailing List

Loading

Recent Posts

Aerobotics Raises $17 Million Led by Naspers To Scale AI for Agriculture Globally

January 21, 2021

Tanzanian money remittance startup NALA is launching in the UK

January 21, 2021

Startup Guide to release of Startup Guide Nairobi

January 21, 2021

Nokia C1 Plus now available in Kenya for Ksh 9,000

January 21, 2021
kplc

Kenya Power Rolls Out A Smart Metering Project Across The Country

January 21, 2021
">
">

Follow Us

">

There are many sites out there focused on blowing off some steam, from funny entertainment to thrilling experiences like playing online, in some cases online gaming could grant you the chance to win extra money. We came across rocketpot.io while browsing for a good btc casino online and it left us a very good impression with their wide variety of games and crypto offering.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

© 2019 Moran Media Group - All rights reserved TechMoran.

No Result
View All Result
  • Startups
  • Reviews
  • Insider
    • Obituaries
  • Business
  • Women
  • Blockchain
  • Columnists
  • Hacks & Facts
    • How To
  • Editions
    • US Edition
    • India Edition
    • MENA Edition
    • Asia Edition
    • Europe Edition
    • International Edition

© 2019 Moran Media Group - All rights reserved TechMoran.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
%d bloggers like this: