Treepz raises $2.8 million in seed funding and acquires Uganda mobility startup Ugabus
Treepz raises $2.8 million in seed funding and acquires Uganda mobility startup Ugabus
Treepz, a Ugandan mobility startup, has announced that it has completed its seed funding round at a valuation of $2.8 million, following a three-month fundraising period. In the first leg of the round, the company raised $1.2 million in total. A total of $1.6 million USD in new seed funding from new investors was announced today by the company.
Earlier this year, Treepz raised an extension seed round led by Japan's Uncovered Fund, Dubai's Blanford Capital and Jonomi Capital, and Egypt's Jedar Capital, with participation from other investors. Apart from the seed funding, Treepz has also recently received funding from Google's African Investment Fund, which the company will be putting to good use in order to aggressively expand its on-demand ride-sharing and intercity bus ticketing services throughout Africa.
Treepz acquires Uganda’s Ugabus
In addition, Treepz announced that it has completed the acquisition of Ugabus, a Ugandan bus company, from its previous owners. There were no specific financial terms disclosed, but Onyeka Akumah, Treepz's CEO and co-founder, stated that the acquisition was funded by the company's most recent round of venture capital.
After purchasing Stabus in Ghana, Treepz is expanding its operations in East Africa, and this acquisition represents the company's first foray into the region.
In addition to having 70 percent of the country's bus operators on its platform, Treepz estimates that Ugabus has approximately 50,000 customers who use the service to travel between Uganda's cities.
Following its acquisition, Ugabus will be renamed Treepz Uganda, similar to what happened with Stabus. The new name will be in effect on December 1st this year, as previously announced. According to the CEO, the acquisition will allow the startup to expand into other East African countries as a result of the acquisition.
Future expansion plans
In addition, Akumah stated that Treepz's expansion plans are well underway, according to the company. Its services will soon be available to residents of east African countries such as Tanzania and Burundi, as well as Togo and Benin, following the company's acquisition of Stabus.
Additionally, the company unveiled its all-in-one app, which allows passengers to search for, compare, and book rides within and between cities, all from the comfort of their own homes, as well as between cities. As a result of its recent acquisition, Ugabus, the company believes that its indigenous intercity-focused technology is a good fit with its new focus on providing on-demand public transportation services throughout Africa.
Ugabus's established infrastructure in mobile money provides the foundation for the mobility startup to expand into that space in the future, according to the company.
