Allianz X, the digital investment unit of the Allianz Group, has announced that it has made an undisclosed amount of investment in SafeBoda, an East African based motorcycle hailing company.
Allianz Z, based in Germany referred SafeBoda as a major African ride-hailing platform that also offers various on-demand consumer and payment services in what is the entity’s first investment in an African-headquartered company.
SafeBoda, winner of the 2018 AppsAfrica Award, aims to offer reliable and safe transportation to its customers and its mobile payment platform is an example of digital companies contributing to financial inclusion across Africa.
It started in Kampala Uganda and has seen it expand into Nairobi getting good reception which made established competitors like Bolt (Formerly Taxify) and Uber revisit the manner in which they operated motocycle taxis.
For the Series B investment, Allianz X is co-investing with Go-Ventures, a venture fund whose cornerstone investor is GO-JEK. Allianz and GO-JEK are already partners in GO-JEK’s home market of Indonesia.
“Our investment in SafeBoda underlines our continued commitment to growth markets. We are excited to participate in the development of ride hailing ecosystems in Africa,” said Oliver Ullrich, Corporate Development Director at Allianz X. “SafeBoda has successfully established itself in the ride hailing market in Uganda and we look forward to supporting the company’s expansion into additional countries and services.”
Allianz intends to leverage its regional presence and capabilities, working with SafeBoda to transform transportation, logistics, and payment sectors in Africa.
“SafeBoda is a promising start-up with substantial growth potential, including the development of relevant financial services and insurance products,” said Coenraad Vrolijk, CEO of Allianz Africa. “We look forward to our strategic collaboration and to being part of SafeBoda’s success story.”
“SafeBoda is excited to have Allianz X join our investor group, particularly as we deepen our platform and add a number of important FinTech services for both SafeBoda drivers and passengers,” said Alastair Sussock, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of SafeBoda. “We are confident that collaborating with Allianz will enable us to grow the business and impact the wider community across East and West Africa.”
