Ugandan mobility fintech, Asaak acquires FlexClub Mexico, expands to Latin America

Four years ago, Asaak launched in Uganda to provide motorbike financing to operators, who are often locked out by formal banking institutions due to stringent security requirements comprising income history and regular account activity.

The mobility fintech also worked with partners, just like SafeBoda, to make ownswrship of these motorcycles easier for the riders– who earn a living by operating motorcycle taxis (bodaboda), a popular mode of transport across Africa, and especially in major cities like Kampala.

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Until 2019, Asaak was not known for mobility financing, the startup started operations in 2016 as Soroti Uganda, it provided loans for farmers and later SMEs. Now as Asaak, it has financed the purchase of more than 5,000 motorcycles, and has also started providing smartphones and fuel financing to the operators.

Today, Asaak announced that it has acquired FlexClub Mexico, as part of its entry into the Latin American market. FlexClub offers car financing for Uber drivers in Mexico, it also provides a software that allows South African car rental companies to offer vehicle “subscriptions” to drivers.

This acquisition also means that FlexClub is departing from the Mexican market to focus on its South African operations.

“Our departure from the Mexican market is driven by the need for sharper focus in this very challenging economic environment, not a reflection of the potential. We are excited about the opportunity for the talented FlexClub Mexico team including Javier Serrano, Gerardo Cedano, Karen Garcia, and Emmanuel Velez to join Asaak and contribute to their vision in Latin America,” said Tinashe Ruzane, CEO and co-founder of FlexClub.

The FlexClub Mexico team, now Asaak Mexico, is led by General Manager Javier Serrano who helped build the team and portfolio from scratch.

The acquisition which is an undisclosed deal will enable Asaak to build on its innovative credit ecosystem, collaborating with FlexClub Mexico's expert team to create transformative financial solutions tailored for the Latin American region Through this deal, the Ugandan mobility fintech will also introduce its innovative incremental credit solutions to Mexico, enabling workers to more seamlessly access affordable credit for their economic advancement.

“The vehicle is the entry point into our credit ecosystem, from which drivers can eventually access additional credit for fuel, repairs, smartphones or other needs they may have. We’ve proven this can be done profitably at scale for our clients , both online and in person,” Kaivan Khalid Sattar, CEO and founder of Asaak, said in a statement seen by Bendada.com.

So far, Asaak has raised over $30 million in equity and debt financing. It most recent funding round was last year, a $30 million pre-Series A round that saw saw the participation of new and existing investors including Resolute Ventures, Social Capital, HOF Capital, Founders Factory Africa, End Poverty Make Trillions, Decentralized VC and a number of angel investors.

“As active investors in both Asaak and FlexClub, simple.Capital() spotted an opportunity to procure the acquisition of FlexClub’s Mexican business by Asaak. We congratulate both management teams on the closing of this transaction which we believe has significant benefits for both Asaak and FlexClub,” Blake Musgrove, Partner and Chief Investment Officer at simple.Capital(), said.