Mondo Ride raises Sh203m for expansion drive in Africa

Taxi-hailing company Mondo Ride has raised Sh203 million ($2 million) as it seeks to expand its services across the continent.

The company said that the money was sourced mostly from investors in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Mondo, which started its Kenya operations in January 2016, says that this latest round of fundraising brings to Sh500 million the amount of seed investment raised since the company was founded.

Mondo Ride was founded in Dubai but is headquartered in Nairobi.

“This funding round will enable Mondo Ride to provide even more rides for busy, active people across the fastest growing cities in Africa. We currently have operations in five cities across Africa, and plan to open six new cities by the end of 2018,” said the company.

One of the anchor investors in this round of fundraising was ISON Group, a Lagos-based IT firm that operates in 25 countries.

Mondo says it has about 6,000 drivers in the five African cities where it operates. 

The local taxi-hailing business has become increasingly competitive over the past one year. Companies have tried to customise their apps for the local market, incorporating bodabodas (motorcycle taxis) as well as mobile money as modes of payment. 

READ: Mondo Ride Nairobi fares cut signals fresh price war for online taxi hailing companies

Taxi-hailing firms have also been diversifying the range of their services.

Uber last year launched a premium taxi service, Uber Select, and Uber ChapChap, with a starting fare of Sh100 targeting people who want to run quick errands in Nairobi.
Price, however, has been the ultimate competition point, both for passengers and customers.

Throughout 2017 companies repeatedly reviewed their prices. Taxify recently introduced surge pricing to draw more drivers to its application while Uber introduced a fee on passengers that keep their drivers waiting.