Shuttlers raises $4 million to power its shared mobility solution across Nigeria

Shuttlers, a Nigerian shared mobility company that allows individual and business passengers to commute across multiple bus routes via an app, has raised $4m in a new funding round led by Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), a pan-African company. capital company.

The round saw participation from follow-on investors, including VestedWorld, which led the mobility startup’s $1.6 million round 18 months ago. SheEquity, CMC 21 & Alsa and EchoVC are the startup’s other backers in this round, which saw the mobility company secure over $5.6 million in total venture backing.

Shuttlers’ activity is mainly focused on business trips and commuting. In Lagos, Africa’s most populous city, the average professional who commutes to work daily or several times a week – whether with a personal car or danfo minibuses and okadas – encounters roads riddled with intense traffic jams and dangerous carbon emissions. Since transportation is not a common employee benefit in Nigeria, what Shuttlers has managed to do since CEO Damilola Olokesusi launched the startup in 2016 is provide partner companies, in Lagos and in Abuja, a bus sharing platform with mobility options for their employees.

With Shuttlers, these employees can reserve seats on any of the buses along pre-determined and scheduled routes. Its other features include live bus tracking, optimal traffic-based routing, digital payments, and trip schedules. It offers three payment plans: companies pay the full rate for employees, companies share rates with employees, and individual customers – not affiliated with a partner company – pay the rates themselves. Rates range from N850 (~$1.96) and N1300 (~$2.60).

Shuttlers has doubled its traction since we covered its seed cycle in November 2021. At the time, the Lagos-based startup said it had over 100 buses traveling 30 routes across the city. Currently, nearly 260 buses operate daily on 300 routes across Lagos and Abuja, according to co-founder and managing director Olokesusi. Meanwhile, with a customer base of more than 80 companies, including Interswitch, MainOne and Paga, the company sells more than 9,000 tickets a day to individual and business passengers – and has logged 3 million trips, according to its website. The company claims that over 70,000 users have taken a spin on its platform.

Bus transport hubs do not contribute to downtown congestion like the most popular shared mobility segment: public transport services. Its model is such that more people are encouraged to take public transport and reduce the number of private car owners. So, in addition to helping commuters reduce the stress of driving to work or using disorganized public transport, Shuttlers helps reduce pollution and traffic congestion. The mobility upstart claims to have reduced the carbon footprint of its commuters by 85% (about 4 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions). The company’s environmental impact is one of the reasons lead investor Verod-Kepple has backed it, according to partner Ory Okolloh, who said in a statement: “(Shuttlers’) commitment to creating impact aligns with our vision to invest in entrepreneurs who solve important challenges. and businesses that have a positive impact on society.

The round of funding from Shuttlers, which the company secured after starting for four years and processing more than $1 million in transactions, allowed it to improve its technology, Olokesusi told TechCrunch. Now, this additional funding secured by the 55-person team will help build infrastructure to power its transit business, enable employee transportation for more businesses, and grow market share in a space that includes Treepz backed by Techstars as it expands to other cities in Nigeria. It will also increase hiring in its sales, marketing and customer support departments, Olokesusi added.

“Before our first funding, when we weren’t doing marketing and PR, I think we had the highest market share in bus calling and space sharing. But now it’s not doing any doubt that we are miles away from the competition, in terms of number of customers, technology and routes.We have built an infrastructure that allows us to grow in different geographies inside and outside Nigeria and supports multiple stakeholders from partners and drivers to marshals and administrative bodies Our main goal is to take over the bus sharing space and be this huge startup which, you know, is very profitable,” Olokesusi said of Shuttlers’ position in the Nigerian public transport market, adding that the startup aims to launch in five other cities across the country by next year. .