Uber Backed Moove, a Mobility Fintech born in Africa, which provides vehicle funds to drivers on 6 continents and drivers, acquired Kovi, a Brazilian city mobility provider.
Although the value of the transaction has not been revealed, the move confirmed that it was all stock transactions, and Kovi is now fully owned by Move.
Move's co -founder and joint CEO Radi Derano told TechCrunch that this transaction would hit Mobility FinTech's annual revenue to $ 275 million. Last March, Move reported $ 115 million.
Two months after the news announced that Move will publish a partnership with Waymo and provide the operation of an unmanned vehicle fleet in Phoenix and Miami, two cities in the United States.
Delano said that the acquisition of Kovi, based in Move Sao Paulo, is an important step toward the company's goal of building the world's largest vehicle share fleet. In 2020, 76 cars in Lagos in Nigeria have now grown to 36,000 cars in 19 cities on six continents, and Latin America is now a major market.
Similarly, the acquisition integrates two companies working on the same task. This provides a funding solution for boarding drivers. KOVI, supported by Y -combinator, established in 2018, was released in Brazil to make it easier to access vehicle ownership. After the approval from the Brazil anti -trade station, after the acquisition, Kovi continues to operate under the brand, and the executive team and the management team are not changed.
Move will continue to operate the Kovi brands in existing markets, Brazil and Mexico, but plans to expand the entire Latin America as a whole. Move recently started business in three cities, Colombia and Mexico. As a result, the acquisition has further enhanced the status of moves in Latin America, and the company has given a great foothold in Brazil, the largest riding market in the region.
“We are very excited to cooperate with the wonderful team of Kovi who set up this business to deal with similar issues found in Nigeria,” he said. 。 “Kovi is one of the top two players in Brazil, so we have not only gaining and strengthening the Latin American market, but also the top in Latin America through this acquisition. It was placed in 2.
Move has built the third pillar in the Global Mobility Market Place by providing vehicle supply to the boarding platform. This includes a flagship drive toon product, a taxi and employment model, and a business line of an emerging automatic car (AV), including AI -drive mobility.
AI plays an important role in the AV business line, but Delano states that the company's AI mobility strategy spans the entire business, from conventional riding services to improvement of fleet management. This is where the acquisition of KOVI begins. According to the highest executive officer, KOVI's unique technology and algorithms “complement and strengthen existing moving AI mobility strategies, so that customers around the world can start providing services and products that have been improved to customers around the world. “
It is unknown whether KOVI was financially struggling before the acquisition by move. The last -known funding round was $ 14 billion in Series B from investors such as Valor Capital, Prosus Ventures, and Quona Capital in 2021. Despite collecting funds to expand in Latin America as a whole, Kovi focused mainly in Brazil. That year, the ARR reported $ 45 million and increased by 15 % per month.
With the all -share trading, Kovi investors will become the move shareholders and adjust the trajectory of growth. In a statement, Kovi CEO's Adhemar Milani NETO has expressed confidence in the transaction. “I met the founder [Moove’s Delano and Jide Odunsi] I was immediately impressed with their purpose -led approach when they were expanding their business many years ago in Africa. We believe that we will become a business that really defines global categories, and will take advantage of the scales and deep expertise that we could not see in our market. “
Last year, a move, which was raised by $ 100 million with $ 750 million, claimed that it provided funds for more than 50 million Uber trips worldwide. Mobility FinTech has secured more than $ 500 million debts and shares from Mubadara, Black Rock, Franklin Tempton, Janus Henderson, and IFC (World Bank) since its release five years ago.
Derano has refused to comment on potential new funding. Instead, he focused on the company this year, leading the business of Capex Heavy to profitability and realizing the world's largest boarding fleet globally.
