Rinchi
TechInAfrica – A South African startup company, Lüla, has announced that it is seeking out R2.5 million of fundraising through a crowdfunding platform, Uprise.Africa. As in return, it will give up 8.5% of the equity stake. The fundraising will go for 90 days and so far, there are already 10 investors interested in the fundraising with an overall contribution of R81,000.
Lüla’s Co-Founder and CEO, Velani Mboweni mentioned the fundraising as a great opportunity for the Cape Town-based startup to grow and expand its service across the country as well as to the other regions.
Cape Town’s Transport and Urban Development Authority explained that Cape Town is the most crowded city in South Africa with about 80% of heavy traffic that mostly caused by private cars. The Authority suggested to share transport or carpooling to address this challenge.
Lüla’s targeted users are corporate commuters. It has more than 50 employees across the city to serve its clients. Moreover, it uses private shuttles that can facilitate door-to-door rides, picking up commuters right from their homes to work and vice versa.
Mboweni said, “With a bigger fleet of shuttles, Lüla can alleviate congestion and save up to 20% of the fuel costs of traveling to work. We are able to save our passengers up to 80% of auto-related expenses and free up 100% of the time spent driving.”
Lüla claimed that it has served around 150 passengers from corporate clients, including Aurecon, PwC, SweepSouth, as well as Old Mutual.
Lüla was first incepted in 2016 and since then, it has raised more than R3.4 million from both local and international investors. Overall, it has secured nine local corporate companies as its clients. Last year, Lüla was a part of SBCAfriTech’s Startupbootcamp cohort that took place in Cape Town. Lüla said that with the fundraising on Uprise.Africa, it is expecting to attract investors to invest in the company.
