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Since its launching in 2018 as a ride - hailing help in Togo , Gozemhas steady expanded across French - speak West Africa , integrating a wide-eyed range of services as it seek to become a super app . The company now offers drive - hailing , commerce , fomite financing , and digital banking across Togo , Benin , Gabon , and Cameroon .
Now , in a bidding to scale its ecosystem , Gozem has erect $ 30 million in a Series B funding round — $ 15 million in equity and $ 15 million in debt — led by SAS Shipping Agencies Services and Al Mada Ventures . The fellowship will use the investment trust to bolster up its fomite funding servicing and pillage into newfangled markets .
According to the startup ’s foundersGregory CostamagnaandRaphael Dana , Gozem sets itself aside from other drive - hailing and vehicle financing platforms by making certain its drivers are financially untroubled and can access career growing chance .
Gozem ’s drive - hailing table service covers motorcycle , three - wheelers , and automobile , while its vehicle funding product is train at helping its driver leverage vehicle . It also let workers on its program make intellectual nourishment and grocery deliveries as part of its e - DoC business organisation .
“ Our main client is the professional driver , ” Costamagna told TechCrunch . “ We build an ecosystem to help drivers earn more money and develop in their living . If they ’re successful , our full business is successful . ”
Whenwe covered Gozem ’s $ 5 million Series A in 2021 , it had just aviate its fomite financing manakin , partnering with local banking concern and deploying over 1,500 vehicle that class . Since then , the society has collaborated with international loaner and the International Finance Corporation ( IFC ) and now finances around 7,000 vehicle .
To attract drivers to its political program , the ship’s company purchases vehicle using a mix of debt and equity , and driver can pay for these vehicle in installment . or else of require upfront deposit , Gozem recoups be through small discount from driver ’ daily earnings . Uber - backedMoove , Asaak , andMAXalso offer vehicle financing products to drivers in different markets .
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Gozem said its program insure that requital remain affordable relative to the driver ’s average lucre .
“ We explain to all our driver that this is a long - term journey , ” Costamagna say . “ We finance their motorcycle , but then they can elevate to a [ three - Sir Mortimer Wheeler ] , then a car , finally becoming full fomite owners . ”
The founder said a substantial portion of the debt raised is slat for Gozem ’s fomite financing vertical . The company is also work to upraise another $ 20 million in the coming months to stick out its expansion across Francophone Africa over the next two years .
The super-app play
Many fintech and mobility platform have undertake to incorporate diverse service under one super app , but the modeling has n’t always been successful . In sub - Saharan Africa , for good example , payment apps that have attempt to germinate into super apps , like SoftBank - bet on Opay , have run across little achiever .
Gozem , however , is seeing traction thanks to an approach that ’s interchangeable to Southeast Asiatic delivery and ride - hail giants Grab and Gojek . Some of its rivals , likeBOND - endorse YassirandMNT - Halan , have also search standardised models in Africa across the Maghreb region and Egypt to some achiever .
Currently , the company has nearly 10,000 registered gadget driver , and more than a million users have used its program so far . It tell its monthly users number in the 100 of thousands .
In summation to its pith services , Gozem has find some growth in digital ticketing , which is part of its Commerce Department part . The company resells event tickets across its markets and say it has processed more than 50,000 tickets in Togo alone for major concerts and events .
The company also forayed into digital banking ( Gozem Money ) viathe acquisition of Moneexin 2023 . The service , currently know in Togo , lets users make mobile payments and , according to the company , work millions of dollars daily .
Before this latest Series B , Gozem recorded run - rate gross merchandise value of $ 50 million across its three product vertical . Dana said the company expects to treble or quadruple its growth in 2025 with the young capital .
He note that the Series B funding bout validates Gozem ’s model , given the mixing of industrial and financial Robert William Service investor joining its cap table . SAS Shipping Agencies Services is part of MSC Group , one of Africa ’s largest container terminal operators , while Al Mada Ventures is the speculation arm of Pan - African fiscal religious service conglomerate Al Mada .
“ It ’s validation because we have investors operating on the ground in the same grocery store where we operate , ” said Dana .
