Nigerian automotive tech company, Autochek Africa, has completed its pre-seed round of $3.4 million.
The round was co-led by Lagos, London, and Nairobi-based TLCom Capital and US-based 4DX Ventures. Japanese VC firm, Kepple Africa; sub-Saharan-focused firm, Lateral Capital; Ghana-based Golden Palm Investments; Chinese VC firm, MSA Capital; and several local angel investors participated in the round.
Planning to build automotive solutions for the African market, Autochek will utilize the investment to develop its Nigerian and Ghanaian markets, invest in its tech, and grow its team.
Etop Ikpe established Autocheck in August 2020, and this announcement follows the organization’s obtaining of the Cheki Nigeria and Cheki Ghana brands in September. Nonetheless, it wasn’t until this month that the startup went live.
Speaking on the investment, Ikpe said, “Building on the solid work that the Cheki Nigeria and Ghana teams have done over the last ten years, we are already dispersed across multiple locations. And applying the technology built and developed by our Autochek auto-tech experts, we are well-positioned to scale quickly, as the demand for reliable and well-priced cars on the continent grows.
“With this pre-seed round and our seasoned strategic investors on board, we are working to transform the automotive sector on the continent.”
Having left Cars45, a Nigeria-based automotive trading platform where he was Co-founder and CEO in July, Ikpe discloses to Techpoint. Africa that Autochek was born out of the need to upset an underutilized and undiscovered industry.
Africa is broadly viewed as the final frontier for the worldwide automotive industry. With high development possibilities over the next decade, vehicle deals are relied upon to develop over the continent notwithstanding the effect of the pandemic. This likewise compares with the expansion sought after for support services.
Notwithstanding, there is a scope of existing difficulties, including restricted access to finance and an obscure commercial centre. This implies car owners and vendors don’t generally have the best encounters.
The recent years have seen various players attempt to make innovative products to handle these difficulties. Yet, even though this signals a birth, Ikpe contends that there’s a whole other work to do over the industry.
