Autocheck, a Nigerian automotive e-commerce company, has acquired CoinAfrique to expand its operation into Francophone Africa as part of its aim to foray into new markets.
CoinAfrique runs a classified ad marketplace with a huge customer base that Autocheck said would boost its growth by helping to accelerate its car financing services across the Francophone sub-region. This is because the classified ad marketplace is said to attract 60,000 new ads and 1.5 million visits every month, with the car category accounting for 50% of the business transactions happening on the site.
The acquisition comes about two months after Autocheck purchased KIKAL Auto, a Moroccan auto marketplace that paved the way for the Nigerian startup’s expansion into North Africa.
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Under the deal, CoinAfrique and Autocheck employees will team up to run the regional operations.
“We see many opportunities to unlock value for users across all the categories on our platform and to expand into new countries, and we are looking forward to leveraging Autochek’s market leading loans product and expertise to deliver more transformative experiences for our users,” said Mathias Papet, CoinAfrique co-founder in a statement.
CoinAfrique was cofounded in 2016 by Eric Genetre, and has recorded significant growth in French-speaking African countries. The company has become the leading platform when it comes to the classified marketplace for Francophone Africa, having 800,000 monthly active users from businesses and individuals who buy and sell vehicles, electronics, real estate and other goods.
On the other hand, Autochek is making waves in the rapidly growing automotive market in Africa. The continent’s market value is expected to hit $42 billion in the next five years, a 5.5% compound annual growth rate between 2022 and 2027.
The acquisition of CoinAfrique will consolidate Autocheck’s foothold in the Francophone region. The company already has presence in Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Morocco. Autocheck will now have the opportunity to launch its operation in the 12 countries where CoinAfrique is active.
Having strong partnerships, Autocheck boasts of a successful foray into the new markets. The startup said it has more than 1,500 dealers as partners, and works closely with more than 70 banks to offer financing to its customers in its current markets.
In addition, the company offers swift access to car credit as its loans are approved in about 48 hours.
Autocheck raised $13.1 million in a seed round in October last year, thanks to a number of investors willing to bet on its strategy to achieve growth. The investors include pan-African VC firms TLcom Capital, 4DX Ventures, Golden Palm Investments, Enza Capital, Lateral Capital, Norrsken22, Jam Fund, ASK Capital and Mobility 54 Investment SAS, the venture capital arm of Toyota Tsusho and CFAO Group.
Speaking on the acquisition, Etop Ikpe, CEO and co-founder of Autochek, said: “Matthias and Eric are pioneers of the classifieds model in Africa and they have built an outstanding platform with many significant partnerships with car dealers, fintech platforms, and other stakeholders in the Francophone automotive sector. They are joining the Autochek family with many years of business and infrastructure development experience across Europe and Africa and we are looking forward to leveraging their expertise to improve the automotive finance value proposition across the continent.”