Cyprus-based mobility finance company NeoFleet has raised $4 million in a pre-seed funding round as it looks to expand its vehicle financing business and develop infrastructure that could support autonomous mobility in emerging markets.
The company currently operates in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Peru, where it provides financing and fleet-management services to professional taxi and ride-hailing operators.
The round combines equity and debt and was backed by DMTech VC, a venture fund focused on fintech and asset-backed finance, along with other private investors.
Former inDrive Executive Joins as Co-Founder
Mark Loughran, the former president and chief financial officer of ride-hailing company inDrive, also participated in the funding round.
Loughran has joined NeoFleet as president and co-founder, bringing experience from the ride-hailing sector to the company’s expansion plans.
NeoFleet was founded in 2024 by Igor Shiyanov and Oleg Mosyazh.
Company Targets Vehicle Financing Gap
NeoFleet is targeting a financing problem faced by professional mobility operators that want to expand their fleets but struggle to secure conventional bank financing.
According to 2021 World Bank data compiled by TheGlobalEconomy, vehicle prices in Sub-Saharan Africa were about 8% above the global average, with the region’s vehicle-price index standing at 107.74 against a global benchmark of 100.
NeoFleet says the cost of vehicles, combined with limited access to financing, can make it difficult for drivers and businesses to acquire the assets they need to generate income.
“We address a fundamental problem in many high-growth mobility markets: people need rides, drivers want to work, and capital is the missing piece to put more cars on the road,” Loughran said.
Fleet Has Reached 650 Vehicles
As of October 2026, NeoFleet says its network includes approximately 650 vehicles with a combined purchase value of about $10 million.
The company intends to use the new capital to increase the size of its existing operations while entering additional mobility markets.
Its target is to deploy 1,000 vehicles across its network by the end of 2026 and increase that figure to 5,000 by the end of 2027.
NeoFleet estimates that a 5,000-vehicle network would represent between $75 million and $100 million in vehicle value.
NeoFleet Uses Multiple Financing Structures
The company has developed what it calls a Fleet Management Franchise model, bringing together vehicle financing, fleet-management technology, operations, maintenance and insurance.
However, it does not use a single ownership structure across every market.
In some cases, NeoFleet provides secured financing to an established fleet operator, which then purchases and owns the vehicles. In other arrangements, NeoFleet purchases vehicles itself and rents them to local operators.
It also offers instalment-sale structures under which operators take ownership of vehicles after making payments over an agreed period.
Technology Plays a Central Role
NeoFleet is building a technology platform around several aspects of fleet operations.
These include fleet and driver scoring, telematics, vehicle monitoring, maintenance management and payment controls.
Shiyanov said the company generally begins by financing established fleet operators before gradually increasing its involvement in the underlying vehicles.
“We typically start by financing established fleet operators, then increase our control over the asset through direct vehicle ownership or instalment-sale structures, and ultimately integrate these capabilities into the full Fleet Management Franchise,” he said.
Revenue Comes From Financing and Fleet Services
NeoFleet currently generates income through interest and fees charged on financing provided to fleet operators.
It also earns rental income from vehicles that it owns and leases to operators.
As the Fleet Management Franchise model expands, the company expects software, maintenance, insurance and other fleet-related services to provide additional revenue streams.
Its customers are primarily professional taxi and ride-hailing fleet operators that have limited access to traditional bank lending.
Risk Controls Built Into the Model
The company says it uses several safeguards to manage the risks associated with vehicle financing.
Before extending funding, NeoFleet carries out due diligence and credit assessments on potential fleet operators. It also uses relationships with ride-hailing platforms and other market data to identify established businesses.
Vehicles financed through the model are insured and monitored using telematics technology, including location and vehicle-status information.
If an operator falls behind on payments, NeoFleet said it first works with the business to determine whether the financial difficulty is temporary and whether the repayment schedule can be restructured.
Where that approach fails, the company’s security arrangements and vehicle-monitoring systems allow it to recover an asset and potentially redeploy it through another fleet operator.
Autonomous Mobility Is Part of the Long-Term Strategy
NeoFleet is also positioning its current business as a foundation for a future in which autonomous vehicles become more common.
The company believes many of the services required by today’s professional taxi fleets will remain necessary when vehicles no longer require human drivers.
These could include financing, insurance, charging, maintenance, repairs, monitoring and fleet management.
“We believe autonomous mobility will be one of the most important structural shifts in transportation,” Shiyanov said.
He added that human-driven and autonomous vehicles could operate alongside one another in African markets for an extended period as the technology develops.
Expansion Beyond Three Markets
NeoFleet is currently assessing more than 15 countries for its next stage of expansion and expects to select two or three additional markets.
Its geographical focus includes Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The company said it could eventually pursue opportunities in developed markets such as the United States, United Kingdom and European Union.
For now, it plans to deepen its presence in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Peru while assessing potential new markets.
Building a Mobility Finance Platform
NeoFleet operates in a space that already includes companies such as Moove and Autochek, which have also sought to address vehicle-financing challenges in emerging markets.
Its longer-term strategy, however, extends beyond providing capital for individual vehicles.
The company aims to build infrastructure that connects institutional capital with mobility assets, while developing the technology and operational systems needed to manage those assets at scale.
If its plans progress, NeoFleet intends for that infrastructure to support today’s professional taxi fleets while also providing a foundation for the eventual expansion of autonomous mobility across emerging markets.
