Shekel Mobility, a YC-backed Nigerian startup,has raised $7 million in a seed round.
The funding comprises $3.2 million in equity and over $4 million in debt.
The seed round 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, Pioneer Ventures and other angel investors.
Zedvance, VFD Microfinance Bank, Zenith Bank, and Fluna, amongst others, provided the debt component.
According to Co-founder Benjamen Oladokun, in an interview, the company will use the funds to quadruple its current ARR and leverage this momentum towards its next priced round.
In January this year, Shekel Mobility announced a $1.95 million pre-seed investment. Ventures Platform led the round with participation from Y Combinator, Voltron Capital and Zedcrest.
Shekel is a dual role startup, combining mobility and fintech.
The company helps car dealers to find and sell cars, while also financing the deals, especially for small car dealers.
This puts Shekel Mobility in the same space as Autocheck and Moove
Co- founder Benjamin Oladokun hinted at a new product coming from the company. Shekel business will cater to digitize the dealership/car ownership process.
- “One of the fundamental things we’ve built is the ability to buy a car without collateral. We started out lending to dealers, but now we’re looking to provide additional digital tools and physical infrastructure to reduce the cost of owning car dealerships,” Shekel Mobility Co-founder, Benjamen Oladokun said.
Highlighting its achievements, Shekel Mobility said it has powered transactions worth over $56 million. It has also facilitated the growth of over 1,400 auto dealers by augmenting their inventories and sales across 7,000 cars.
Shekel Mobility aspires to build the largest auto dealership ecosystem with transactions amounting to $10 billion annually by 2025.
