Moove, the African mobility fintech backed by Uber, is significantly expanding its presence in Latin America with the acquisition of Kovi, a Brazilian urban mobility provider. The all-share deal, the value of which was not disclosed, creates a combined entity with annualised revenue of $275 million, according to Moove co-founder and co-CEO Ladi Delano. This marks a substantial increase from Moove’s reported $115 million annualised revenue in March.
The acquisition, which is subject to approval from the Brazilian antitrust authority, sees Kovi become a wholly owned subsidiary of Moove. Kovi will continue to operate under its own brand in Brazil and Mexico, with its existing management team remaining in place. However, Moove has plans to leverage Kovi’s existing infrastructure and expertise to further expand across the Latin American region. This strategic move gives Moove a significant foothold in Brazil, the largest ride-hailing market in Latin America, and complements its recent launches in Colombia and Mexico.
“We’re incredibly excited about working with a fantastic team of like-minded individuals at Kovi who set up this business to address a similar problem that we found in Nigeria,” Mr. Delano said in a statement“Kovi is one of the top two players in Brazil. So we have not just entered or strengthened our presence in the Latin American market but also put ourselves in a top two position in the largest single market in Latin America through this acquisition.”
Both companies focus on providing vehicle financing solutions to drivers working for ride-hailing and delivery platforms. Kovi, founded in 2018 and backed by Y Combinator, offers access to vehicle ownership in Brazil. Moove, which began operations in Lagos, Nigeria in 2020, has grown rapidly, now operating 36,000 vehicles in 19 cities across six continents. The acquisition unites two companies tackling the same core challenge, albeit in different markets.
Moove’s business model centres around providing vehicle financing through its “Drive-to-Own” product, a taxi and employment model, and an emerging autonomous vehicle (AV) division incorporating AI-driven mobility solutions. Mr. Delano emphasized that Kovi’s proprietary technology and algorithms will be integrated into Moove’s existing AI mobility strategy, improving service and product offerings globally.
The deal follows Moove’s recent partnership with Waymo to manage driverless vehicle fleet operations in Phoenix and Miami, and underscores the company’s ambition to become the world’s largest ride-share fleet operator. The company has built a third pillar in the global mobility marketplace by supplying vehicles to ride-hailing platforms, including its major partner Uber.
While the financial details of the acquisition remain confidential, Mr. Delano confirmed it was an all-share transaction, making Kovi ’s investors shareholders in Moove. Kovi had previously raised $104 million in a Series B funding round in 2021 from investors including Valor Capital, Prosus Ventures, and Quona Capital. While Kovi reported $45 million in annualised revenue in 2021, growing at 15% month-on-month, it is unclear whether the company faced financial difficulties before the acquisition.
Kovi CEO Adhemar Milani Neto expressed optimism about the merger. “I met the founders [of Moove] many years back when they were scaling their business in Africa, and I was immediately impressed by their purpose-driven approach, which is also a perfect match to our culture. Together, I believe we will become a truly global category-defining business and will leverage scale and deep expertise never seen in our market.”
Moove raised a $100 million Series B round led by Uber last year, valuing the company at $750 million. The company has raised over $500 million in debt and equity from investors including Mubadala, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Janus Henderson, and the IFC (World Bank). Mr. Delano declined to comment on any future fundraising plans, stating that the company’s focus is on achieving profitability this year.