Plentywaka, A Shared Mobility Startup, Has Raised $1.2 Million In A Seed Round And Has Acquired Stabus Ghana
Plentywaka, a shared mobility startup, has raised $1.2 million in a seed round and has acquired Stabus Ghana
Approximately one month after completing the Techstars Toronto Accelerator program in July 2021, the Toronto-based shared mobility startup Plentywaka announced a $1.2 million seed round.
The company also announced that it had acquired Stabus, a Ghanaian mobility startup, as part of its efforts to expand its African operations, which will begin in West Africa. This acquisition follows the company's recent funding round.
The Xchange, a Toronto-based venture capital firm, led the funding round. Other investors include SOSV, a Chinese venture capital firm; Shock Ventures, a US venture capital firm; Argentil Capital Ventures, a Nigerian venture capital firm; and ODBA & Co Ventures, also a Nigerian venture capital firm. In addition, Techstars Toronto made a follow-on investment.
The list is completed by a number of angel investors from Canada, the United States, and Africa.
Plentywaka was founded in 2019 by Onyeka Akumah, Johnny Ena, John Shaibu, and Afolabi Oluseyi. The company is headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. Through its app, the company provides two primary services: Travelwaka, which is for inter-state travel, and Dailywaka, which is for intra-state travel. It offers its users the ability to request ride-sharing services on demand.
A portion of the funds will be used by the startup to expand its operations. Combined with the previous round, Plentywaka has raised a total of $1.62 million.
Acknowledging this during a phone interview with Techpoint Africa, Akumah stated, “Getting into Ghana was one of the major motivators for us, which we have already accomplished. Its purpose is to essentially increase our population. By Monday, August 23, 2021, we would have completed approximately 480,000 rides, bringing us to approximately half a million total completed rides.
Additionally, Dailywaka is expanding at a rapid pace, but we want to expand Travelwaka to more cities by leveraging the partnerships we have in place. For us here at Plentywaka, the future is one in which we will expand our services beyond Ghana to six African countries within the next two years.”
The decision to relocate to Ghana appears to have been in the works for some time. A key component of Plentywaka's strategy to become one of the largest shared mobility startups in Africa is its acquisition of Stabus.
“We found an entrepreneur in Isidore who is a brilliant person who has been doing something similar to what we are doing, with similar visions, and with similar goals,” Akumah tells Techpoint, adding that it was an easy decision to make.
Stabus, which was co-founded in 2019 by Isidore Kpotufe, has moved more than 100,000 people in Accra, Ghana's capital city, since its inception. Its services include providing daily bus stop to bus stop transportation as well as staff bus solutions for multinational corporations such as MTN Ghana and GB Foods.
The company's vision
The company's vision is similar to that of Plentywaka, which is to alleviate traffic congestion, which is one of Africa's most pressing transportation problems.
According to Akumah, on September 16th, 2021, Stabus would relaunch as Plentywaka Ghana, with Kpotufe serving as Country Manager and the rest of the team from the Ghanian startup remaining on board.
There are currently 21 cities where Travelwaka operates in Nigeria, which has been made possible by a number of partnerships with bus operators throughout the country, including the recently announced collaboration with interstate bus company, GUO Transport.
Plentywaka, according to Akumah, has currently onboarded 963 vehicles with approximately 100,000 unique users and a team of just under 50 members — a factor that he believes has been critical to the company's success to date.
When Plentywaka was accepted into the Techstars Accelerator program, the platform stated that the company would address a problem that affects major cities, including developed cities.
Moreover, while Akumah acknowledges the possibility of a future expansion into Canada, the company is currently focused on expanding into East and West African cities, despite its headquarters in Toronto.
Sunil Sharma, Managing Director of Techstars Toronto, expressed his excitement about the investment in Plentywaka by saying, "We are extremely excited about our investment." Techstars is a firm believer in the potential of Africa's economy and a proud supporter of the aspirations of African entrepreneurs. Onyeka is a two-time Techstars founder, which further strengthens the bond between the two companies.”
As Todd Finch, the company's founder and managing partner, put it: "The Xchange is on a mission to provide purpose-driven founders with the capital and resources they require to realize the world-changing potential of their ideas."
"We knew this was an opportunity we wanted to invest in because of Onyeka's demonstrated track record, his team's undeniable desire to make a difference, and Plentywaka's impressive growth."
Following the announcement, the company stated that it will be looking for the right kind of partners and investors to join the movement — which is represented by the colors black and yellow — in order to provide the best-in-class transportation service connecting cities and communities with technology across Africa.
According to TechCrunch, the company is preparing to raise its Series A round of funding in order to accelerate its plans to expand operations.
