Mobility 54 - the Corporate Venture Capital ("CVC") subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Group ("Toyota Tsusho") and CFAO SAS ("CFAO") - participated in the Seed round of Nigeria-based Autochek - a new/used car online marketplace - by investing in Vee8 International Holdings, Inc - the holding company of Autochek, alongside with existing shareholders including venture capital funds 4DX and TLCom. The aim of this investment is to increase the group's presence in the used car market and to help Autochek reinforce its service offerings, while expanding across Africa.

While the used car market in Africa is very dynamic and is estimated at the annual value of $45 billion, the market remains largely informal and the penetration of financial services available for buyers is less than 1%. This is partly due to an absence of transparency on vehicle conditions and residual values, which makes it difficult for financial institutions to measure the value of collateral and to therefore estimate the risks of credit.

While maintenance of used cars is crucial for the life of vehicles as well as for drivers’ safety and the environment, aftersales services are fragmented in Africa and the quality of spare parts available in the informal market is often unreliable.

Autochek is an automotive marketplace created in July 2020 by the founder - Etop Ikpe, the serial entrepreneur who was Commercial Director at Konga.

Autochek aims to build the digital infrastructure for new/used car sales, which is based on 3-pillar business units: 1) individual customers and dealers can sell or purchase vehicles online, 2) auto loans can be disbursed on online-basis from the network of over 70 financial institutions and 3) vehicles can be maintained across their lifecycle through its booking appointment system with the network of over 70 workshops.

With the development of a unique pricing estimation technology, Autochek is able to provide its customers with unprecedented financial support to purchase used cars.

After acquiring the used car marketplace – Cheki Nigeria and Ghana in July 2020 and later Cheki Kenya and Uganda in August 2021, the company now operates in Nigeria Ghana, Kenya and Uganda. It is also currently expanding in Ivory Coast and is aiming to further deploy its operations across the continent.

Through Mobility 54’s participation, Toyota Tsusho Group aims to reinforce its presence in what remains a largely informal used car market. The group also plans to digitize its new cars sales and aftersales services with Autochek to improve its offering and to serve new B2C customers rising in Africa.

The group will also help Autochek with its technical support on the ground to reach the quality standard in terms of customer service. The group will also leverage on CFAO’s presence in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa to support the deployment of Autochek’s platform in the region.

Toyota Tsusho/CFAO group through its CVC – Mobility 54 – will continue to invest in startup partners with innovative technologies and services for Africa. The group is pursuing to help solve the social and industrial challenges in Africa by supporting expansions of innovative partners’ businesses and creating strong synergies between our group and the partners.