Gokada, a Lagos-based motorbike taxi hailing service that works like Uber, except commuters get motorcycle instead of cars has announced and expansion drive. The startup made that announcement while celebrating its first birthday, an event that was marked with the company moving to new offices and starting a driver training school.
Gokada was incepted in February 2018, giving commuters the ability to order for a motorbike taxi online. The company uses geo-location based on the user’s smartphone to locate the commuter and match him or her with the nearest available taxi.
In their first year of operations, Gokada is reported to have enlisted at least 1,000 riders onto the program, and has completes about 5,000 rides throughout Lagos’ Mainland per day.
The startup’s new offices are in IIupeju, which also houses an advanced driver training school. Through this school, the startup plans to train and verify the riders on its program. The training school will officially open in April 2019.
The startup came by from a very simplistic setup. It began by transporting students from the University of Lagos to the Yaba area environs. These days, Gokada rides have become quite popular that they are being used within Lagos Mainland and the company says it is looking to grow its market even further.
The CEO and co-founder, Deji Oduntan said the future will be defined by a “quick, safe, and reliable transport.” And they are working to position Gokada to provide just that.
“We thought about how to solve transportation and traffic issues in Lagos, a huge problem for Lagosians. How do we get Lagosians to their destinations 50% quicker and safer? Okadas! The quickest mode of transport in Lagos.
We also wanted to provide jobs for unemployed Nigerians and I believe we have succeeded so far.”
Angel Investors
The startup has already been able to raise equity from experience investors in the motorbike industries in Africa and Asia. The company has certainly demonstrated to be able to pick investors interest.
It monetizes its platform by charging riders a commission on the fare they get paid by the commuters. It also announced plans to launch new verticals that will bring in more revenues.