Nigerian mobility startup Moove has completed the acquisition of Brazilian car rental startup Kovi in an all-share deal that will expand its Latin American operations. The mobility startup officially expanded to Mexico in October 2024.
"This transaction not only strengthens our footprint in Latin America and reinforces our position as a dominant player in global mobility, but it also underscores our commitment to contributing to the Brazilian economy. Kovi's proprietary IoT software and advanced driver behaviour models complement our existing capabilities, supporting our focus on safety, efficiency, and innovation in AI mobility," Ladi Delano, Co-founder and CEO of Moove, said.
Kovi, part of Y Combinator's W19 batch, was founded in 2018 by former 99 executives with the goal of helping people rent cars for ride hailing but has since expanded to cover food delivery workers.
It last raised a $104 million Series B from investors such as Valor Capital Group, Prosus Ventures, Quona, Broadhaven Ventures, GFC, Monashees, UVC Investimentos, PIPO, Norte, Maya Capital, and Globo Ventures. At the time, it had more than 11,000 drivers in Brazil and Mexico.
The acquisition by Moove boosts the number of vehicles in Moove's fleets to 36,000 and expands its operations to 19 cities. Kovi will continue operating under its brand, with the management team not expected to change.
"I met the founders many years back when they were scaling their business in Africa, and I was immediately impressed by their purpose-driven approach, which is also a perfect match to our culture. Together, I believe we will become a truly global category-defining business and will leverage scale and deep expertise never seen in our market. We are also excited to continue our expansion across Latam now with robustness with such strong partners," Adhemar Milani Neto, CEO of Kovi, said.
In addition to increasing the size of its fleet, the acquisition takes Moove's annual revenues to $275 million. Last year, it raised $100 million in a round led by Uber before announcing a partnership with Waymo to manage its fleet of driverless cars in Phoenix and Miami.