If you live around Lagos, there is a very high chance you would have seen MAX.ng riders, especially around the Island metropolis. MAX.ng is a motorcycle ride-hailing and delivery service startup based in Lagos. Its delivery service is available for individuals and businesses with Jumia being one of the companies in its portfolio.
The Nigerian startup raised $6 million from its Series A funding and also got $1 million in grants taking its total funding to $7 million dollars The journey of MAX.ng dates back to 2015 when it was co-founded by Chinedu Azodoh and Adetayo Bamiduro who are both alumni of MIT Sloan. Since then, it has taken one million trips for both ride-hailing and goods delivery raising about $9 million since inception.
Also Read: Here are other Ride-hailing services in Nigeria (asides Uber & Bolt)
This round of fundraising involved Novastar Ventures, Yamaha and Zrosk Investment management among others. Presently, Yamaha sells and makes motorcycles in Nigeria and the current fleet of MAX.ng mainly includes Bajaj’s Pulsar as well as Yamaha Crux Rev motorcycles. However, Max.ng will be using this new round of funding to add electric motorcycles in partnership with electric vehicle manufacturers. Also, MAX.ng will be collaborating with power holding companies to build charging stations across its area of operation. This will make it the first of its kind in Africa and they are also looking into using renewable energy as fuel for its motorcycles
Read More: SafeBoda prepares to launch in Nigeria; to compete with Gokada and MA
Furthermore, the startup will be venturing into ten new cities across West Africa in counties like Ivory Coast and Ghana with the inclusion of other transport means like three-wheeled (tuk-tuk) vehicles. In addition, it will be expanding to other cities across Nigeria as well considering its operations are concentrated in the South-West part of Nigeria. Another aspect of its business that will benefit from the funding is its payment system, in order to facilitate usage by both banked and unbanked customers.
SEE: Bolt (formerly Taxify) Launches operations in Kisumu, Kakamega and Thika
Across Africa, the motorcycle ride-hailing businesses are really showing up with a lot of players expanding to different new regions lately. You’ve got Gokada & ORide which is in direct competition with MAX.ng here in Nigeria, Safeboda in East-Africa also looking to expand to Nigeria, Uber and Bolt also have two wheel ride-hailing transport in East-Africa as well.
