Mobility 54 Investment SAS ("Mobility 54") - the corporate venture capital subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") and CFAO SAS ("CFAO") - has decided to invest in Fleetsimplify Inc. ("Fleetsimplify") and Drive to Own Pty Ltd. ("Drive to Own"). Fleetsimplify operates a management platform for the owners of ride-hailing business vehicles in Kenya, while Drive to Own engages in the vehicle finance business in South Africa. The two companies were selected in the 2022 Digital Transformation Challenge for Africa, a pitch event for startups in Africa held on August 29 and 30, and the investment is to be made as an award to them. The investment amount is 50,000 USD for Fleetsimplify and 100,000 USD for Drive to Own.

Mobility 54 held the 2022 Digital Transformation Challenge for Africa in Paris, France jointly with Health54, a subsidiary of CFAO and start-up investment company in the healthcare sector in Africa. The event attracted 86 participants including the founders of investee startups and joint-investor venture capitals with another approximately 300 people joining the event online. The call for applications for the Startup Pitch Contest began in May this year. The number of applications reached more than 240 including 170 mobility-related, and 7 of them made it to the final selection and delivered an enthusiastic pitch on the day of the event. 2 of them were selected for Mobility 54 awards.

In Kenya, the majority of gig drivers cannot afford to own vehicles to drive on the ride-sharing platforms. They rent vehicles from middle income earners who want to earn extra income on the ride sharing apps. The vehicle owners find it stressful and time consuming to manage the drivers and the vehicles. This is because they are engaged in other full time jobs.

Fleetsimplify is a vehicle rental marketplace connecting gig drivers to rental vehicles to drive on the ride-sharing platforms. It leverages a suite of technologies and solutions to undertake fleet management on behalf of vehicle owners. These solutions include driver-vehicle matching, driver & vehicle management, vehicle tracking, mobile payment. Drivers instantly access quality vehicles to drive and earn a decent living. Vehicle owners make good revenues hassle-free while their vehicles are maintained in good condition.

In South Africa, the need for private cars is growing due to the country’s underdeveloped public transport system and high prices for shared taxis. However, more than 70% of people fail to pass loan screenings because of their funding issues and cannot purchase private cars. Drive to Own has developed a system of providing people purchasing private cars with prepaid cards for making payments for insurance, maintenance services, fuel, and other items, and granting miles according to their prepaid amount. The miles are consumed as the user runs the vehicle. The company adds a function that stops the engine from working if the miles are used up, thereby ensuring payment by users, while also having introduced a system that enables the user to acquire ownership after driving a certain distance. Drive to Own thus offers new vehicle finance services, working to develop the vehicle sales business.



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Mobility 54 will leverage the close relationships with partner companies built through this pitch event and accelerate initiatives to create eco systems in the next-generation mobility business in Africa.

Toyota Tsusho and CFAO group, through their CVC Mobility 54, will continue to invest in startup partners with innovative technologies and services for Africa. They are working to solve social challenges in Africa by supporting expansions of innovative partners’ businesses and services and creating strong synergies with potential partners.