Senegal: Corporate VC fund invests in ride hailing company
Mobility 54, the corporate venture capital subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation and CFAO, has participated in the pre-series A seed round funding of Kai Senegal.
While some ride hailing apps have emerged in the country, it has been difficult for them to overcome the challenges of an informal market and to address the financing issues of the drivers with the classical ride hailing model.
Kai has been created in 2018 to solve these issues by rethinking the ride hailing model. The company is based on three pillars: 1) a fleet management solution to buy and maintain good quality vehicles, 2) a digital ride hailing app to connect customers with drivers, and 3) a financing scheme to turn taxis into an asset investment class allowing private owners and institutional investors to purchase cars as an asset and to get a regular payback with interest.
Kai wants to centralise what has been to date a very fragmented market and aims to renew the fleet of vehicles to offer private individuals as well as corporate clients a good quality transport service at a reasonable price. The ride hailing app will allow for both a more efficient pick up service and transparent pricing, while the financial scheme will allow to increase the quality of cars and therefore the security of the passengers. Kai is convinced that human resources will be key to its growth and will continue to invest a lot in the training of its drivers, whether they are employees or partners.
The company already operates in Senegal and is planning to expand into additional countries across West Africa by the end of 2022.
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