Craft Silicon founder Kamal Budhabhatti. photo | diana ngila | nmg
Summary
- The investment from India comes in the wake of Little’s quest to streamline its payment system and at the beginning of its foray outside Kenya.
- Earlier this month the firm launched its services in Uganda and is also set to enter Rwanda in June.
- Uber, the San Francisco-based taxi e-hailing giant, launched its services in Kampala in June 2016.
- Uber rolled out its operations in Lagos in August 2014 while Taxify entered Uganda last year.
Local taxi-hailing firm Little has sold a Sh300 million stake to an Indian fintech company.
Little’s
latest investment adds to Sh1 billion capital injection it has so far
received since inception from its parent tech firm Craft Silicon and
other un-named shareholders. Kenya’s biggest telco Safaricom has no
stake in Little but it is the firm’s technology and marketing partner.
The
investment from India comes in the wake of Little’s quest to streamline
its payment system and at the beginning of its foray outside Kenya. Earlier this month the firm launched its services in Uganda and is also set to enter Rwanda in June.
“What is happening is that the transport and auto industry which
has been quite dormant, from the disruption point of view, is now ripe
for disruption. A lot of new technology is getting into vehicles,” said
Craft Silicon founder and chairman Kamal Budhabhatti.
“There
are not many players who are integrating payments into the in-car
technology. So the latest funding will go to building products in that
line. I will also be travelling to the US soon to get some education on
how autonomous vehicle technology works,”
Mr Budhabhatti said the firm will be working with some vehicle manufacturers to integrate payments into vehicle dashboards.
Little
launched in Kenya in July 2016. Its entry into the local online taxi
hailing space sparked off a price war that pitted it against rivals Uber
and Estonian-based Taxify, which responded by slashing their fares. In
Kenya, Little’s services are available in Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa.
The
firm is also eyeing Nakuru and Eldoret towns. Little’s expansion
outside Kenya comes two years after the firm first announced its plan to
venture into Uganda and Nigeria.
Uber, the San Francisco-based taxi e-hailing giant, launched its services in Kampala in June 2016.
Uber rolled out its operations in Lagos in August 2014 while Taxify entered Uganda last year.
ALSO READ:
No comments :
Post a Comment