PlentyWaka Has Raised $1.2 Million In Seed Funding And Also Acquire Stabus Ghana
PlentyWaka has raised $1.2 million in seed funding to support its African expansion plans, including the acquisition of Stabus Ghana
The bus-hailing startup Plentywaka has announced that it has raised $1.2 million in seed funding, just two months after completing the Techstars Toronto Accelerator Program. According to the startup, the funds raised will be used to carry out its mission to become the largest shared mobility startup in Africa, one country at a time, by investing in other startups.
The Xchange, a Toronto-based venture capital firm, was the lead investor in the round. Techstars was one of the companies that took part in the event (following a previous investment in Plentywaka). Other investors include SOSV, the world's most active venture capital firm in the angel/seed deal category, and ShockVentures, a venture capital firm based in the United States.
Included among the Nigerian investment firms that took part in the round were Argentil Capital Partners and ODBA & Co Ventures, which had previously invested in Kuda Bank at an early stage. Several angel investors from Canada, the United States, and Africa also participated in the seed round, providing Plentywaka with the much-needed boost it needed to continue its impressive growth.
In an interview with me, Onyeka Akumah, Co-Founder and CEO of Plentywaka, explained that the funding comes at a time when the startup has been able to solidify their offerings based on their experience from over 17 Nigerian cities and is eager to expand into other African countries to solve similar mobility problems.
“We intend to establish the largest shared-mobility company in Africa,” says the company's CEO. The decision has been made to first expand into other countries in West Africa, and then to expand into other African regions from there. With this increase, we will devote more resources to aggressive marketing in order to bring more people into contact with the seamless quality we provide in over 24 cities across Nigeria, as well as our newest market, Ghana,” he explained.
Despite having to shut down its operations for five months in 2020 as a result of the global pandemic, Plentywaka has managed to register 960 vehicles on its platform and assist its riders in commuting more than 480,000 times in less than two years of operation.
Within the next two years, Onyeka stated that Plentywaka intends to replicate its model in six additional African countries, and that the company is looking for the right kind of investors and partners to join the "black and yellow" movement.
Plentywaka acquires Stabus Ghana
Stabus, one of Ghana's most promising mobility startups, has also been fully acquired by Plentywaka, according to the company.
A Co-Founder of Stabus, Isidore Kpotufe, announced in 2019 that the startup has relocated more than 100,000 people to Accra, the country's capital city. There are several services they provide, including daily bus stop to bus stop transportation as well as staff bus solutions for multinational corporations such as MTN Ghana and GB Foods.
Following the completion of the acquisition transaction, Stabus will be rebranded as Plentywaka Ghana, with the mobility platform offering a variety of low-cost and premium vehicles, including cars, minivans, and buses for public transportation, among other things.
The acquisition, according to Plentywaka CEO Onyeka Akumah, is "an unmistakable statement of our commitment to growing and building the largest shared mobility startup in Africa, one country at a time. " The fact that Isidore is an exceptional entrepreneur, and we are looking forward to having him and his team carry out our plans for the Ghanaian market when Plentywaka Ghana officially launches operations on the 16th of September in Accra,” says the company.
Toronto Headquarters
Plentywaka is now a shared mobility company with its headquarters in Toronto. When asked if the relocation is being done because of regulatory concerns, Onyeka responded that the new location had always been in the works.
As he explains, "When we first launched Plentywaka, we intended to have it based in Nigeria to begin with." We were accepted into Techstars Toronto as a result of this process. The plan was for us to be able to establish a base in Toronto and conduct our business operations from there. We considered expanding our operations there at one point, but ultimately decided that Africa is our strong suit and that we should concentrate our efforts there.
“As a result, Toronto serves as our headquarters in terms of investor relations and business development, particularly given the fact that the majority of our investors are from Canada, Asia, and the United States,” he explained.
