Car ownership is increasing in Africa, however most are used vehicles. According to data, the continent has less than 45 automobiles per 1000 people, which is far lower than the global average of 203 cars per 1,000.
Finance is one of the issues that have been identified as impeding people’s ability to acquire an automobile. Affordable finance and business solutions for vehicle dealers have been presented as a game changer to address this difficulty.
Shekel Mobility, a B2B vehicle dealer marketplace, is investigating this idea. According to Tech Crunch, the mobility fintech assists car dealers in finding, financing, and selling vehicles in the $30 billion African used car industry.
The company aspires to be the foremost platform for launching and growing a vehicle dealership, either locally or electronically. The goal is to create the greatest auto dealership ecosystem by 2025, with yearly transactions totaling $10 billion.
It has so far financed transactions totaling $56 million. According to Tech Crunch, it has aided the growth of over 1,400 auto retailers by supplementing their stocks and sales across 7,000 vehicles.
Its flagship product is Shekel Credit, which provides car dealers with rapid access to finance for vehicle acquisitions of up to $200,000 USD. Shekel gives 30% of the overall cost, while the dealer receives the remaining 70% as a loan. According to Tech Crunch, the dealer remits payment to Shekel upon the sale of the vehicle to the end buyer, paying interest on the loan and processing fees related with the auto sale.
Benjamen Oladokun and Sanmi Olukanmi founded Shekel Mobility. To create their mobility fintech firm, the couple merged their automobile sector skills. According to Tech Crunch, they were previously responsible for the creation and exit of Eazypapers Technologies, a digital vehicle documentation platform serving to FMCG, transportation, and logistics firms.
Shekel recently received more than $7 million in capital, including $3.2 million in equity and more than $4 million in debt. According to Oladokun, the cash will be crucial in expanding the startup’s current ARR of somewhat more than $2 million by fourfold.
Shekel disclosed a $1.95 million pre-seed investment led by Ventures Platform, with participation from Y Combinator, Voltron Capital, and Zedcrest in January of this year. These investors participated in Shekel’s seed round, which was co-led by Ventures Platform and MaC Venture Capital.
Other investors include Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, Unpopular Ventures, Maiora Capital, PageOne Lab Inc., Phoenix Investment Club, Heirloom VC, and Pioneer Ventures.
