Grace Ashiru
NeoFleet Capital, a Cyprus-based mobility fintech that funds taxi fleets in emerging markets, has raised $4 million in a pre-seed round. The round mixes equity and debt, and Mark Loughran, a former inDrive executive, has joined as President and co-founder; the money will go toward expanding its corporate fleet financing model across emerging markets including Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. The investors haven’t been named.
The company was founded by Igor Shiyanov. Its model treats taxis as an asset class: NeoFleet co-finances vehicles with fleet operators, and investors earn returns from the cars’ income. Shiyanov has said the goal is to build a global investment platform for taxi fleet financing in emerging markets.
The numbers so far are modest but growing. NeoFleet now operates in Senegal, Peru and Côte d’Ivoire, and its partner network covers more than 800 vehicles, which represent over $10 million in financed and committed assets. Its Ivorian launch started with three transactions co-financing taxis worth about $3 million in total, and the company wants to pass 1,000 vehicles in Côte d’Ivoire soon.
Loughran brings ride-hailing experience that fits the problem. While at inDrive, he spoke about the company’s plans to partner with other players to lend to drivers and delivery riders, many of whom have no banking history. That gap (drivers who can’t get credit to buy the cars they work in) is what NeoFleet is built around.
It isn’t alone in Francophone West Africa. Gozem has raised $30 million for vehicle financing and expansion in the region, and Kai, founded in Senegal in 2018, built a scheme that lets private owners and institutional investors buy cars as assets and earn regular repayments with interest.
