- South Africa-based car subscription company, Planet42, has closed $100 million in equity, credit facility, and debt to scale its business and provide a million cars to people who cannot obtain traditional car financing.
- Naspers, through its early-stage investment vehicle, Naspers Foundry, and ARS Holdings co-led the $15 million equity round while existing and new investors participated.
- Rivonia Road Capital provided a $75 million credit facility, and private investors contributed $10 million in debt financing.
Planet42, founded in 2017 by Eerik Oja (CEO) and Marten Orgna (CFO), buys used cars from dealerships and rents them to customers through a subscription model.
According to Planet42, it employs its scoring algorithms to evaluate risk in underbanked customer segments.
Customers can choose new or used cars from Planet42's network of dealerships using its algorithms to determine what budget works for them.
Planet42 then purchases the vehicle and rents it to the customer on a subscription basis. According to Planet42, 89% of all clients it has helped thus far wouldn’t have had access to a personal vehicle through any other means.
Per the company, dealers in its South African network have seen an average 26% increase in sales since joining Planet42.
It claims to have purchased over 12,000 vehicles for customers in South Africa and Mexico.
In 2021, the company raised $30 million in equity and debt to fund its operations and expansion into Mexico, delivering 250 cars to customers.
Besides, in 2021, customers in South Africa received over 7,000 cars. In the last year, it purchased over 5,000 vehicles in the country.
