Moove, the mobility company founded by Nigerian entrepreneurs Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, has raised $250 million in a Series C round that values the business at $2.1 billion, confirming its long-anticipated entry into unicorn territory. The round was led by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, with Toyota’s growth fund Woven Capital and Ion Pacific serving as co-leads.
Additional backing came from BlueCrest Capital Management and Sona Capital, joining an existing investor base that includes BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton and Uber, among others.
From Lagos startup to global infrastructure player
Moove began operations in Lagos in 2020 with just 76 vehicles. The company now runs roughly 42,000 vehicles across 29 cities in 13 countries and employs about 3,300 people, generating annualised recurring revenue of $420 million.
Its funding trajectory reflects that expansion. In 2023, Moove raised $76 million, making it Nigeria’s most funded startup that year even amid a broader slowdown in African tech funding. In March 2024, Uber led a $100 million Series B round that valued the company at $750 million, marking Uber’s first direct equity investment on the continent. By mid-2025, Moove was already in the market for a fresh $300 million raise that people familiar with the plans said could push its valuation past $1 billion.
The new Series C more than doubles that figure in under a year, driven largely by Moove’s pivot toward autonomous vehicle infrastructure.
Betting big on autonomous mobility
Rather than simply financing vehicles for ride-hailing drivers, Moove has repositioned itself as an infrastructure company for the autonomous mobility sector. It now manages fleets through a partnership with Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving unit, with operations live or announced in Phoenix, Miami and London.
Central to this strategy is a network of robotics-first depots the company calls “Nests,” where autonomous fleets are charged, serviced and maintained for continuous operation. The fresh capital will go toward expanding this infrastructure, entering new markets and scaling the autonomous vehicle business further.
What the round signals
The Series C reflects growing investor appetite for companies building the physical and operational backbone of autonomous mobility, rather than the self-driving technology itself. Moove’s positioning as an operator, rather than a technology developer, appears to have been central to its appeal to investors like Mubadala and Woven Capital.
For Nigeria’s startup ecosystem, the round adds another company to a short list of homegrown unicorns, and reinforces the pattern of local founders scaling businesses that ultimately headquarter or expand well beyond the continent. Moove is now based in the UAE, even as its origin story and early growth remain rooted in Lagos.
Whether the company can sustain both its rapid international expansion and address concerns raised by drivers in its founding market may shape how the milestone is remembered in the years ahead.
