Barely one year and some months after bike hailing startup, GoKada, took Nigeria by storm, the company is already on its way to expansion with a $5.3 million Series A capital raise.
Rise Capital, a global investment firm that focuses on making expansion-stage investments in Internet businesses in Emerging Markets, led the Series A investment in conjunction with Adventure Capital, IC Global Partners, and Illinois-based First MidWest Group.
Meanwhile, as part of the capital raise agreement, Nigerian entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Jobberman, Ayodeji Adewunmi will be joining Gokada as a Co-CEO.
How the funding will be deployed: Gokada plans to use the fund to increase its fleet and ride volume, and at the same time, develop a network that offers goods and services to its drivers.
The fund is also aimed at increasing daily rides by 1000 percent, and acquisition of local talents. According to Gokada‘s Co-Founder, Fahim Saleh:
“We’re going to start a Gokada club in each of the cities with a restaurant where drivers can relax, and we’ll experiment with a Gokada Shop, where drivers can get things they need on a regular basis, such as plantains, yams, and rice.”
Gokada’s success story: Following its establishment early last year, Gokada has already acquired approximately 1,000 motorcycles that are manned by trained, insured and verified drivers, kitted out with helmets which are DOT (US Department of Transportation) approved and certified.
The company has also completed nearly one million rides since inception, getting riders to their destination 50 percent quicker than travel by car.
With combined app downloads of close to 200,000, Gokada currently ranks as the most popular motorcycle-hailing app in Nigeria and a top 100 app, overall.
About Gokada: Gokada is an on-demand motorbike hailing service headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. Customers can order a motorbike ride through the company’s website, or by using the company’s geo-location -based smartphone Gokada mobile app.
It was founded in 2018 by Nigerian entrepreneurs. The service was launched originally and started operations in Yaba Axis of Lagos state and has since extended their operations to Victoria Island – Lekki Axis Lagos, Nigeria.
The company uses bikes with engine capacities of 200 cc and above meeting government standards for load-bearing on major Lagos roads.