Mobility startup Moove has raised $250 million in a Series C funding round, valuing the company at $2.1 billion, as it accelerates the expansion of its autonomous vehicle fleet management business. The latest investment marks another milestone in the company’s evolution from a vehicle financing platform into a global mobility operator with ambitions in autonomous transportation.
Founded in 2020 in Nigeria and now headquartered in Dubai, Moove said the funding round was led by Mubadala Investment Company, with Woven Capital and Ion Pacific joining as co-leads.
The fresh capital will primarily support the scaling of Moove’s autonomous vehicle operations, including expanding its workforce and investing in automated fleet infrastructure. The company plans to hire around 350 employees as part of its next growth phase.
Despite its growing focus on autonomous mobility, Moove continues to operate a substantial human-driven ride-hailing business. The company currently owns and manages a fleet of 42,000 ride-hailing vehicles across 14 countries, employs 3,300 people globally, and continues to provide vehicle financing solutions for gig economy drivers.
Moove began exploring the autonomous vehicle sector in early 2023 after assessing the industry’s ecosystem, including autonomous vehicle developers, manufacturers, ride-hailing marketplaces and end consumers. The company identified an opportunity to manage the ownership and operations of autonomous fleets, an area it believes complements its expertise in fleet financing and management.
Explaining the company’s strategy, Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO of Moove, said, “In this world, who owns the vehicle? Who operates the vehicle? Who orchestrates the vehicle? Who does the servicing and the maintenance? Who does the lost property? Who does the cleaning?”
He added, “Let’s create a product where we own, operate, and orchestrate autonomous vehicles, and let’s go and find partners to do it with — and that’s essentially what we did. In 2023, we started talking to every single AV company you could imagine, and as you know – God would have it, luck would have it – we managed to partner with Waymo first.”
Moove currently serves as the fleet operator for Waymo in Phoenix, Miami and Las Vegas, with plans to extend the partnership to London. While the company does not yet own the Waymo robotaxis, it intends to acquire them through debt financing in the future. Delano did not disclose a timeline for those purchases but confirmed that Moove already owns autonomous vehicles supplied by another developer, whose identity remains undisclosed.
Discussing the company’s long-term vision, Delano said, “Ultimately our vision is to own, you know, hundreds of thousands of vehicles.”
Alongside fleet expansion, the company will also invest in developing automated depots, referred to as “nests”, which are designed to operate around the clock using robotics for charging, maintenance and vehicle servicing. Moove currently has around 15 depots in various stages of development, although the company has not announced when its fully automated facilities will become operational.
According to Delano, Moove’s traditional mobility business is expected to achieve full profitability this year, while the newly raised capital will accelerate the company’s autonomous vehicle ambitions.
The funding round also attracted participation from BlueCrest Capital Management, Sona Asset Management, Raptor Group, BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, Uber, Left Lane, Silverbacks Holdings, Square Associates, The Latest Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst and the Ontario Power Generation Pension Plan.
As autonomous mobility continues to attract investor interest worldwide, Moove plans to leverage its fleet management expertise and new capital to expand its presence in the emerging robotaxi ecosystem while continuing to grow its established ride-hailing and vehicle financing businesses.
