Kenya’s BuuPass has raised undisclsoed funding from Yango Group’s Yango Ventures, a $20 million early-stage fund for startups in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In a statement, Yango Group CEO Daniil Shuleyko said, “We are more than just a tech company; we are an ecosystem committed to empowering entrepreneurs worldwide. Through Yango Ventures, we’re sharing our expertise and network to help startups scale, thrive, and drive meaningful change in their communities.”
For Yango Ventures, this is a calculated first step into Africa’s growing innovation frontier and a proof that global investors are no longer sitting on the sidelines.
Founded in 2016 by Sonia Kabra and Wyclife Omondi, BuuPass digitizes Africa’s intercity transport sector by allowing users to book buses, trains, flights, and parcel deliveries. For operators, BuuPass offers digital tools to manage inventory, payments, and fleet operations.
With the funding, BuuPass wants to become Africa’s unified API for mobility, integrating various modes of transport into a seamless digital ecosystem.
According to CEO Sonia Kabra, the investment from Yango Ventures represents more than funding,it is a strategic partnership aimed at scaling this vision.
By 2024, BuuPass had processed over $70 million in bookings and issued more than 20 million tickets, working with over 150 transport operators across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and South Africa.
In 2024, BuuPass acquired South Africa’s QuickBus for consolidation. In 2023, the firm raised $1.3 million pre-seed round to expand across East Africa which has a population of over 150 million people moving across cities and towns for work and business under the East African Community.
For Yango, which is headquartered in the UAE and operates across Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa, the BuuPass investment signifies a strategic entry into Africa’s dynamic digital infrastructure landscape.
Through its venture arm, Yango is targeting seed to Series B investments in sectors including online-to-offline (O2O) platforms, B2B SaaS, and fintech.
This deal also reflects a broader wave of global tech investment into African startups. In 2023, inDrive launched a $100 million fund aimed at tackling systemic inequality through startup funding in emerging markets. While Yango’s approach is more commercially driven, its focus on infrastructure and scalability could pave the way for long-term, transformative impact.
As digital transport solutions gain momentum, BuuPass is emerging as a front-runner in shaping the continent’s mobility future. The Yango partnership represents a major leap toward realizing that vision—one that could redefine how Africans move, connect, and transact across borders.