The uMunthu fund has acquired a share in MAX, the motorcycle-hailing app in West Africa. MAX has raised around $7.5 million from a group of investors including NovaStar Ventures, Yamaha, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Zrosk Investment Management, and other partners.

The current round brings the total funding raised by the mobility startup to $9 million. Existing investors include TechStars, Olive Tree Capital, Venture Garden Group, RightSide Capital Management, Shell Foundation, and Angel investors such as Greg Schroy and Michael Lazerow.

MAX is a mobility platform that connects users to a network of vetted professional motorcycle-taxi drivers (known as MAX Champions) via the mobile app. It’s building technology infrastructure and financial services to make mobility safe, affordable, and accessible to 1 billion Africans, says Co-founder and CEO – Adetayo Bamiduro.

Bamiduro added that “building safe, affordable, mass-market transportation in Africa isn’t just about building mobile apps — it’s about creating financial, technology, and operating infrastructure where it doesn’t exist”.

MAX plans to use the funding to expand to 10 cities across West Africa, scale its technology infrastructure, introduce mobile payments in partnership with Mastercard, expand with an electric fleet, and deploy new vehicle categories, including 3-wheel tuk-tuks.

“MAX is at the intersection of mobility and financial inclusion – two important priorities for the uMunthu Fund. We are glad to be supporting MAX and believe in its mission to address the mobility challenges in major cities across Africa, while also empowering everyday citizens”, commented Mobola Onibonoje, head of the uMunthu West Africa investment team.