Moove, the Nigerian founded mobility technology company, has raised $250 million in a Series C funding round, achieving a $2.1 billion valuation and officially joining the ranks of Africa’s unicorn startups. The funding round was led by Mubadala Investment Company and co-led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s Growth Fund, and Ion Pacific.
The round also attracted new investors including BlueCrest Capital Management, Sona Asset Management, and The Raptor Group, while strengthening backing from existing investors such as BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, Uber, Left Lane, Silverbacks Holdings, Square Associates, The Latest Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, and the Ontario Power Generation Pension Plan. Going by publicly reported deals, Moove’s $250 million Series C comes as the largest single funding round announced by an African startup so far in 2026. Meanwhile, in what indicates investors’ growing interest in mobility startups, Spiro, another African mobility startup, has raised the largest amount by any African startup this year with $270 million secured in two rounds: a $215 million equity round and another $55 million investment from Chinese firm NewTrails Capital.
What they are saying
According to the company, the fresh capital will be used to expand its autonomous vehicle business, including fleet ownership and robotics-first depot infrastructure known as “Nests”, which support charging, maintenance, servicing, and continuous operation of autonomous fleets. The funding will also support Moove’s entry into new global markets.
As part of the expansion, the company expects to increase its autonomous vehicle workforce by more than 220%, growing from about 150 employees today to 500 employees by the end of the year. Moove said it is positioning itself as the operating layer for autonomous mobility by developing the physical and operational infrastructure needed to deploy self-driving fleets at scale.
The company said scaling autonomous mobility requires more than advances in vehicle technology, noting that fleet ownership, charging infrastructure, maintenance systems, operational orchestration, and around-the-clock city-level execution are equally critical. Co-founder, Co CEO and Advisory Board Chairman of Moove, Ladi Delano, said the company sees autonomous mobility as the next major infrastructure race.
“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 and that is what Moove is building,” Delano said. He added that the company, which began operations in Lagos five years ago, has evolved into a global mobility platform focused on enabling billions of autonomous journeys worldwide. More insights
Founded in 2020, Moove has grown into one of the world’s largest ride-hailing fleet operators, employing about 3,300 people globally and operating approximately 42,000 vehicles across 29 cities in 13 countries. The company said it has expanded through organic growth and acquisitions, including Kovi in Brazil and Tokyo Taxi in Japan, while growing its annual recurring revenue (ARR) to $420 million.
Moove is also expanding its autonomous mobility business through its partnership with Waymo, under which it currently operates autonomous vehicle fleets in Phoenix and Miami, with future operations planned for London. What you should know
At a $2.1 billion valuation, Moove has now surpassed the valuation of many of the existing African unicorns that are still under $2 billion.
Fintech giant Flutterwave currently tops the list with an approximately $3 billion valuation, followed by OPay, which is also estimated to be around the same region. After Moniepoint that joined the league of billion-dollar companies in October 2025, the addition of Moove brings the number of African unicorns to 10. Other companies on the African unicorn list include Andela, Chipper Cash, Wave, Tyme, MNT-Halan, and Interswitch.
