France-based ride hailing platform Heetch has increased a series B round featuring insurance group Allianz and car servicing firm Mobivia from $38m to $42m, TechCrunch reported today.
The extra funding came from AfricInvest, a private equity firm that took part in the round’s $38m first tranche in May this year.
The first close included Idinvest Partners, Cathay Innovation, Felix Capital, Alven and Total Ventures while Allianz and Mobivia invested through their InnovAllianz and Via ID units respectively.
Founded in 2013, Heetch runs a mobile platform providing on-demand journeys covering taxis, motorcycle and car sharing in nine French cities in addition to Belgium, Morocco, Algeria and Cameroon.
Heetch aims to differentiate its service from competitors by allowing fares to be paid with cash as well as payment cards, and by taking a lower share of its drivers’ revenues.
The service originally offered peer-to-peer ride hailing but has incorporated licensed taxis in markets where regulatory issues are a concern. Heetch plans to enter six additional markets in 2020, including additional French-speaking African countries such as Tunisia and Senegal.
The company raised $20m from Via ID, InnovAllianz, Felix Capital, Alven and Idinvest Partners in January 2018. It had secured $11.8m from Via ID, Felix Capital and Alven the year before that may have been part of the same round.
Kima Ventures also took part in the earlier round, which came after $500,000 of seed capital from Via ID in 2014.