Since its launch as a service from Togo in 2018, Gozem has consistently expanded in Africa, which uses French, and has integrated a wide range of services to become a super app. The company now offers a sense of ride, commerce, vehicle financing and digital banking in TOGO, Benin, Gabon and Cameroon.
Now, to expand the ecosystem, Gozem raised $ 30 million from SAS Transportation Service and Al Mada Ventures, led by Al Mada Ventures, to $ 15 million, $ 15 million in debt. The company will use funds to strengthen vehicle financial services and enter a new market.
According to Gregory Costamagna and Raphael Dana, the founders of a new company, Gozem differentiates it from other vehicle financing platforms so that the driver can access the financial and career growth opportunities.
Gozem’s ride reduction service deals with motorcycles, three -wheeled cars and cars, and vehicle financing products aim to help the driver to buy a car. In addition, workers on the platform can provide food and groceries as part of the e -commerce business.
Costamagna told TechCrunch, “Our main customers are professional drivers. “We build an ecosystem for the driver to make more money and evolve in their lives. If they succeed, our entire business is successful. ”
When we dealt with Gozem’s $ 5 million Series A in 2021, it just operated a vehicle financing model, partnership with local banks, and deployed more than 1,500 vehicles in that year. Since then, Loe has been working with International Lenders and International Finance Corporation (IFC) to finance about 7,000 vehicles.
The company can purchase a vehicle using a mix of debt and capital to attract drivers to the platform, and the driver can pay these vehicles with installments. Gozem recovers the cost through a small deduction from the driver’s daily income instead of demanding a deposit. Uber-Backed Moove, Asaak and Max also offer vehicle financing products to other drivers in other markets.
Gozem says its program is guaranteed to maintain a cheaper payment than the driver’s average income.
“We explain to all drivers that this is a long -term journey to all drivers. “We raise funds to motorcycles (but they), but they upgrade to cars and eventually become a car owner.”
The founders said that much of the debt raised is scheduled for Gozem’s vehicle funding vertical. The company has been trying to raise $ 20 million in the next few months to support Franco von Africa’s expansion for the next two years.
Super Apple Play
Many FINTECH and Mobility platforms have tried to integrate a variety of services in one super app, but the model is not always successful. For example, in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, the payment app that wants to develop into a super app like Softbank Support Opay has been rarely successful.
However, Gozem is struggling thanks to a similar approach to Southeast Asian delivery and riding companies. Some competitors, such as Bond-Backed Yassir and Mnt-Halan, have succeeded in exploring similar models in Africa in Maghreb and Egypt.
Currently, the company has nearly 10,000 registered drivers, and so far, more than a million users have used the platform. The monthly number of users is said to be hundreds of thousands.
In addition to the core services, Gozem has slightly increased digital ticketing, which is part of the commercial department. The company has reselled event tickets throughout the market and said it has handled more than 50,000 tickets in Togo alone for major concerts and events.
The company also acquired MONEEX in 2023 and predicted digital banking. Currently, the service that lives in TOGO can make a mobile payment for users, and according to the company, it handles millions of dollars every day.
Prior to this latest series B, Gozem recorded a total of $ 50 million in three products. DANA expects the company to three times or four times in 2025 with new capital.
He noted that the Series B financing round verifies Gozem’s models, considering the mix of industrial and financial services investors who join the cap table. The SAS transport agency service is part of MSC Group, one of Africa’s largest container terminal operators, and Al Mada Ventures is a venture ARM of PAN-African Financial Services.
Dana said, “We are verified because investors are operated on the ground in the same market as we operate.
