IT NEWS NIGERIA
Plentywaka says it has received Techstars support for global expansion and has also unveiled city-to-city bus travel service
Plentywaka has today announced a new investment from Techstars aimed at global expansion and the launch of intercity bus travel service, according to a release.
Plentywaka will also join 9 other startups in the Techstars Toronto accelerator program, Class of 2021.
Speaking about the new development, Onyeka Akumah, Co-Founder and CEO of Plentywaka is quoted as saying: “We are very excited about this new investment to partner with Techstars. This is the second time a startup I founded will go through a Techstars accelerator program and we are truly happy they have believed in our ability again to execute.”
He also explained that “the Plentywaka team will join the Techstars Toronto program to gain further funding, mentorship, and access to a rich network of entrepreneurs and experts in the travel industry. This will also see us expanding globally to other countries, starting with a city in Canada on or before the fourth quarter of 2021”.
Plentywaka was launched in 2019 by Onyeka Akumah, Johnny Ena, John Shaibu, and Afolabi Oluseyi. The new investment from Techstars instrumental as it sets its sights on global expansion after a successful one year of moving over 300,000 riders in Nigeria.
On his part, Sunil Sharma Managing Director, Techstars Toronto said “our only goal is to leverage the broader ecosystem to support and grow these incredible companies. Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, and strong partners and mentors help make this happen”.
The company also said its city-to-city service will enable commuters traveling from one state to another within the country to purchase discounted bus tickets from the Plentywaka mobile app.
With this added feature, commuters have the luxury of choosing their preferred bus transportation company from the list of partners listed on the Plentywaka app from the comfort of their homes. To kickstart this service, Plentywaka would be partnering with some major bus travel companies in Nigeria including Libra Motors with over 300 buses in their fleet along with 4 other players with a capacity of 2000+ buses plying over 100 routes across Nigeria.
Speaking on the new City-to-City service, Johnny Ena, President and Co-founder of Plentywaka said, “ This is a major step towards developing a robust and reliable transport system in the country. We want to make the bus booking service a lot easier and accessible for over 20 million Nigerians that commute from one state to the other on a daily basis. We believe this would change inter-state commuting for not just stakeholders like bus-operators but also the riders themselves with more options”.
With new capital from Techstars, an eye for global expansion, and the launch of its interstate service (city-to-city), Plentywaka is poised for a blitzscaling move to provide the most affordable ‘uber-for-buses’ platform across Africa and the North American market.
The Plentywaka app is available for download on both Google Play and iOS
