Nigeria-based, Africa-focused automotive company Autocheck has secured a $13.1-million seed round for pan-African expansion just a year after raising a $3.4-million pre-seed round in November.
The company, which launched in August 2020, has successfully raised $16.5 million in the past 11 months. It has an operational footprint in five African countries.
The round was led by TLcom Capital and 4DX Ventures, the same pan-African venture capital firms that led the pre-seed round last year. Other investors participating in the round include Golden Palm Investments, Enza Capital and Lateral Capital. Participating for the first time were ASK Capital, Mobility 54 Investment SAS and CFAO Group, among other investors.
Autocheck partners with car distributors to bring affordable options to customers and also offers individuals the ability to sell used cars on their platform.
Since its founding, Autocheck has acquired Cheki and four of its subsidiaries, including Cheki Nigeria Limited, Cheki Ghana Limited, Cheki Kenya Limited and Cheki Uganda Limited.
In September, the company confirmed to TechCrunch that it completed the acquisition of the Kenyan and Ugandan subsidiaries of Cheki’s business from Ringier One Africa Media, further spreading its tentacles into East and West Anglophone Africa.
It has also partnered with the French CFAO Group to bring its marketplace to Francophone Africa.
Etop Ikpe
Etop Ikpe is a Nigerian entrepreneur who founded Cars45, a car dealership company in 2016. He was earlier the vice president of operations and later co-managing director of DealDey, a leading Nigerian online shop.
Ikpe also served as the commercial director of Konga, a leading online e-commerce store in Nigeria from April to July 2016.
