Announcing our investment in Plentywaka!
Plentywaka is a bus-hailing app that helps Nigerians make trips around the country easily.
Team
- Johnny Enagwolor — Co-founder and Co-Managing Director. Before co-founding Plentywaka, Johnny had a decade-long banking career where he managed the E-business endeavors of both Stanbic IBTC and Ecobank. He also founded Ferycon Nigeria Limited, a logistics and transport solutions firm.
- Onyeka Akumah — Co-founder and Co-Managing Director. Onyeka has had extensive experience either co-founding or joining the early teams to build startups in Nigeria viz. Plentywaka, Farmcrowdy, Jumia, Konga, and Crowdyvest. He started his career in Deloitte as an e-Marketing Coordinator for West, East and Central Africa, and Webmaster for British Council in Nigeria.
- Afolabi Oluseyi — Co-founder and VP, Product. Seyi has honed his career in Travels and Logistics, spanning across Travelbeta and Tours Limited, Silhouette Travels Limited, Wakanow, and First Dolphin Travels and Tours Ltd.
- John Shaibu — Co-founder and VP, Operations. John is a Systems and IT Network Engineering professional and has garnered experience across Travelbeta.com Limited, Revotech Consult, and Aira Technologies Limited.
Problem
In many cities in Nigeria, residents find it difficult to commute as the country’s public transport infrastructure system is still in its infancy. In Lagos for instance, commuters either drive their individual cars to work which leads to traffic congestion on the road given the highly populous state or use expensive ride-hailing cabs. Private shuttle facilities are too expensive for medium-sized companies to provide for their staff as a benefits package to help improve productivity at work.
Using public transport options like danfos, molues and kekes is also a game of chance as riders are routinely hoodwinked, robbed, or worse.
In a city like Lagos where there is an average of 227 cars on the road per kilometer (2017) and residents spend up to 30 hours each week in traffic, it has become pertinent for residents to have access to comfortable, affordable and flexible alternatives.
Solution
Plentywaka has built a mobile application that allows prospective riders to book a ride or schedule one later. Their solution aims to fill a gap in the mass transportation segment — where commuters often have to wait hours at the bus stop, regardless of the weather and fight to get into the few available buses. With Plentywaka’s mobile app, individuals can reserve seats and schedule journeys in a 2-step process, at prices up to 70% lower than what Uber and Bolt offer.
Plentywaka eases the infrastructural challenges prevalent in the African public transport system by providing a platform for commuters to securely request and pay for trips across preferred areas. Riders can pre-book single or multiple seats from the mobile app. When the bus arrives, they either check in with the mobile app or scan a QR code. Once the ride is done, a commuter’s card/wallet is charged an amount based on the ride taken.
At its initial launch last September, vehicles were released to drivers at no cost with a strategy implemented to allow full ownership after a 3-year loyalty to the platform. Now, drivers are placed on monthly pay which exceeds current market rates.
To ensure a safe commute for all, Plentywaka drivers go through a thorough vetting process that evaluates driver skill level, background, and licenses to operate passenger vehicles. This leads to reduced roadside incidents and improved service experience for commuters. In addition, the company gives individuals the opportunity to onboard vehicles for free through its Vehicle Partnership Scheme.
Market
What made us excited about the market?
Safe and reliable public transport remains an unattainable ask in many African countries, including Nigeria. Logistics contributes over 3.5% to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with road transportation making up more than 90% of the sub-sector's contribution to the GDP. As the economy develops, we envision an increase in logistics’ contribution to GDP — either mirroring its developed market counterparts where logistics makeup 7–8% of GDP or likely surpassing them to contribute 14–18% to GDP as in more comparable markets e.g. India and Brazil.
Nigeria’s most industrialized state, Lagos has a population of ~20 million people with 9 million using public transportation daily. Many commuters use danfo mini-buses to go from point A to B; however, the demand for public transportation is unmet with only 7,000 taxis commuting on a daily basis and 200,000 buses registered to move passengers within the city. The Lagos State ban on okadas precipitated by the government’s dedication to improving commuter safety also means the gap between demand and the availability of public transport options is further widened.
Public transport commuters yearn for hassle-free, reliable, and affordable transportation. By guaranteeing seats, commuters no longer have to jostle to find a seat on the next available bus and by providing reliable transportation and location tracking through the app, commuters no longer have to wait at the bus-stops for hours.
Though Plentywaka has set its sights on improving the commuting experience for the mass population, they have not lost sight of the bigger picture. The company understands that the root of the problem really lies in the lack of infrastructure for public transportation. They aim to not only tackle the direct to consumer experience but to also solve the underlying issue by building the technical infrastructure that will not only serve Intra and interstate bus systems but also serve other forms of transportation used across various states in Nigeria.
The Team
Why we believe in/backed this team
The Plentywaka team is made up of very high-quality, experienced individuals who have either been repeat founders and/or have served in high positions at big businesses and startups in Africa.
What’s most impressive is the vast experience the team has accumulated across the Logistics, Travel, and Transport sectors which provides them with a high level of domain expertise as they operationally execute.
Executionally, the team’s speed bars none. Their ability to hit predefined milestones and how they organically grew a loyal customer base in a short period serves as a testament to this. This drew us to the company, beyond the importance of the solution, and further solidified our confidence in the company’s potential to succeed.
Traction
Plentywaka officially launched in September of 2019, commissioning 19 15-seater buses for the pilot phase. 6 months after launch, over 100,000 rides had been completed with a total number of 31,000 users onboarded.
Thereafter, irrespective of the impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic that slowed down their activities with the 4-months lockdown, Plentywaka has gone on to complete 60,000+ more rides, serve 12,000+ more users, and increase total mobile app downloads to 41,000+.
Conclusion
The mass transport space is ripe for disruption and with the recent ban on okadas and kekes, there exists an opportunity to service public transport commuters and support public transportation infrastructure. Backed by a team of repeat founders with extensive experience in the transport space, Plentywaka is doing just that. The company has seen explosive growth since its launch — validating its product-market fit while traversing uncertain operational times. As the company continues to grow, we see it providing infrastructure for the public transportation space not just within Nigeria, but across Africa. This makes Plentywaka a very attractive company to back and support. We are excited to be partnering with the team as they continue to build.
Plentywaka is looking to partner with individuals, corporates, and governments as part of its Plentywaka Vehicle Partnership Scheme. If you reside in Lagos or Abuja and are looking for a safe and affordable way to travel the city, click here to get started with Plentywaka
At Microtraction, our long term mission is to accelerate Africa’s transition to a sustainable and developed economy. We do this by investing in entrepreneurs who leverage technology, capital, and innovation to try and solve some of the largest problems on the continent. If you are working on solving one of these problems, we should talk!
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