Grace Ashiru
Lagos-born mobility company Moove has crossed into unicorn territory, closing a $250 million Series C round that values the company at $2.1 billion. It is the largest single funding round raised by an African startup so far in 2026.
Mubadala Investment Company led the round, with Woven Capital (Toyota’s growth fund) and Ion Pacific co-leading. New backers BlueCrest Capital Management, Sona Asset Management, and The Raptor Group joined the cap table, while existing investors including BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, Uber, Left Lane, Silverbacks Holdings, and Endeavor Catalyst deepened their positions.
The capital is earmarked for Moove’s push into autonomous vehicles, funding both fleet ownership and “Nests,” depot facilities where self-driving cars will be charged, serviced, and maintained. Co-founder and Chairman Ladi Delano framed the bet as an infrastructure play, arguing that autonomy requires fleets, charging, maintenance, data systems and 24/7 operations in every city, much like earlier tech waves needed data centres and compute. The company plans to more than triple its autonomous vehicle headcount by year end, from around 150 staff to roughly 500.
Founded in 2020 by Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove started out financing vehicles for ride-hailing drivers shut out of traditional credit, letting them pay through daily earnings. It raised $76 million in 2023, then a $100 million Series B led by Uber in March 2024 that valued it at $750 million. Revenue reportedly grew from about $50 million in 2024 to nearly $400 million, boosted by its acquisition of Brazilian fleet operator Kovi and an autonomous vehicle partnership with Waymo. The new round more than doubles its valuation in under a year.
