Moove, a mobility company that began by financing vehicles for gig drivers in Africa, has secured $250 million in Series C funding at a $2.1 billion valuation to expand its autonomous vehicle fleet management business. The round was led by Mubadala Investment Company, with Woven Capital and Ion Pacific serving as co-leads, according to a TechCrunch report published August 5. The Dubai-headquartered firm, which was established in Nigeria in 2020, aims to position itself as the operational backbone for the robotaxi sector by owning and managing fleets that autonomous vehicle developers don't want to handle themselves.
The company currently runs a 42,000-vehicle ride-hailing fleet spanning 14 nations and employs 3,300 workers worldwide. Moove entered the autonomous vehicle space in early 2023 after concluding that none of the industry's four primary participants — AV technology firms, car manufacturers, platforms such as Uber, or end users — wanted to take on vehicle ownership responsibilities. The startup now serves as the fleet operator for Waymo in Phoenix, Miami, and Las Vegas, with London operations planned for the future. While Moove doesn't yet own the Waymo vehicles it operates, the company intends to purchase robotaxis using debt financing and already owns autonomous vehicles from at least one undisclosed AV developer.
Co-founder and co-CEO Ladi Delano told TechCrunch that Moove's background in managing large fleets and providing vehicle financing made it well-suited to tackle autonomous vehicle operations. "In this world, who owns the vehicle? Who operates the vehicle? Who orchestrates the vehicle?" Delano said, describing the gaps in the robotaxi ecosystem. The company's vision extends to owning "hundreds of thousands" of robotaxis, he added. Delano noted that the firm's traditional mobility business is on track to reach full profitability this year, providing a financial foundation for its autonomous ambitions.
The fresh capital will fund the expansion of Moove's autonomous vehicle fleet management operations, including hiring approximately 350 new employees. A portion of the funds will also support the development of automated facilities the company calls "nests" — depots designed to operate continuously using robotics to handle vehicle charging, maintenance, and servicing without human intervention. The company has roughly 15 depots in various stages of development, though Delano didn't specify when the fully automated, "lights-out" facilities would become operational. Additional investors in the round included BlueCrest Capital Management, Sona Asset Management, Raptor Group, BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, Uber, Left Lane, Silverbacks Holdings, Square Associates, The Latest Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, and the Ontario Power Generation Pension Plan.
Moove's bet centers on becoming the infrastructure layer for robotaxi companies that want to focus on software and sensors rather than the messy business of fleet ownership, cleaning schedules, and lost property retrieval. The company's strategy of using debt to acquire vehicles could allow it to scale quickly while preserving equity, provided the economics of robotaxi operations deliver sufficient returns to service that debt. For investors and industry observers, the question isn't whether fleets need professional operators — they clearly do — but whether the margins in fleet management can support the capital intensity of owning tens or hundreds of thousands of vehicles in a market where pricing power remains uncertain.