Nigerian transportation app Plentywaka plans to expand to Canada

Nigerian booking-booking platform, Plentywaka has been accepted into the Techstars Toronto accelerator program, according to TechCrunch reports.

In a bid to expand its operations from Nigeria to Canada, the startup will join nine others in the program and raise funds from the accelerator as it aims toward global expansion.

Managing director of Techstars Toronto, Sunil Sharma confirmed Plentywaka’s inclusion in its accelerator program, to TechCrunch. He said the organization is supporting the transportation startup because it is solving a huge transportation problem in Nigeria which is similar to urban transportation challenges in major cities of the world.

“We know that Western cities have legacy transportation systems, However, there are many transportation challenges, even in a city like Toronto,” Sharma said. “And we think that Plentywaka’s technology and approach in improving the lives of citizens and their daily commute needs can be brought over to cities in the West just as they are in Africa.”

The Lagos-based company operates an “Uber-for-buses” model such that it connects commuters with available buses via its app.

The company which was launched in 2019 was founded by Onyeka Akumah, Johnny Ena, John Shaibu, and Afolabi Oluseyi. In the first two months, Plentywaka had an average of six people daily. After six months, the number increased to 1,500 people daily, according to CEO Akumah. During the first six months, the platform had recorded more than 100,000 rides.

Like all other businesses that were impacted negatively by the global pandemic, user-traffic for Plentywaka lowered due to a nationwide lockdown across Nigeria. As a result, the company had to make a few changes to its operations and started transporting essential services such as food items, across Lagos. It eventually started a logistics business.

“Plentywaka is getting to a point where we’re now becoming more like an aggregator as we onboard transportation companies on our platform,” Ena told TechCrunch. “Interstate travel in Nigeria is data sufficient, and we want to be the first company to solve this.”

After the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions were lifted, the company resumed operations. As the company maintained steady growth, it began looking for more ways to expand, which included external financial investment. In August 2020, Plentywaka secured $300,000 pre-seed from its parent company, EMFATO, and other investors like Niche Capital and Microtraction.

Plentywaka CEO Akuma explained how the company secured the expansion deal to Canada with less stress, and how more opportunities are waiting to be unlocked in other countries.

“If the opportunity we have in Toronto right now to expand was similar to what we had in Ghana or South Africa, of course, we’ll be having those conversations already,” Akumah said. He added that Techstars and regulators in Toronto made it less difficult for the company, and expressed their excitement to expand to Canada.

Plentywaka is set to become one of the few Nigerian or African startups that will gain access to Canada. The company is also looking to close a seed round from investors.