Moove’s evolution from a vehicle financing startup to ride-hailing and deliveries in Africa to one that also owns autonomous vehicles may seem like a leap. But co-founder and co-CEO Ladi Delano said the experience in financing and human-driven ride-hailing fleets was the ideal training ground for its latest pursuit.

And now it has raised $250 million at a $2.1 billion valuation to scale that business.

The company, founded in 2020 in Nigeria and now headquartered in Dubai, said Mubadala Investment Company led this latest Series C round, with Woven Capital and Ion Pacific as co-leads.

Moove is still very much in the human-driven ride-hailing business. It owns and operates a 42,000-vehicle ride-hailing fleet across 14 countries. The company, which employs 3,300 people globally, also still provides vehicle financing to gig drivers.

Its expansion into autonomous vehicles started in early 2023 after evaluating the industry and its four main players in this nascent ecosystem: the AV developers, vehicle manufacturers, marketplaces like Uber, and the consumer. None of these players want to “own the metal,” Delano told TechCrunch, referring to the vehicles.

“In this world, who owns the vehicle? Who operates the vehicle? Who orchestrates the vehicle? Who does the servicing, the maintenance? Who does the lost property? Who does the cleaning?” Delano asked. It became clear, he added, that Moove’s experience managing large fleets and providing financing could translate to autonomous vehicle operations.

“Let’s create a product where we own, operate, and orchestrate autonomous vehicles, and let’s go and find partners to do it with — and that’s essentially what we did,” Delano said. “In 2023, we started talking to every single AV company you could imagine, and as you know — God would have it, luck would have it — we managed to partner with Waymo first.”

Moove is the fleet operator for Waymo in Phoenix, Miami, and Las Vegas, and in the future, London. The company doesn’t own the Waymo vehicles, but it plans to. Moove intends to use debt financing to purchase the robotaxis. Delano didn’t share a timeline for when Moove will start buying Waymo robotaxis. He did say Moove already owns robotaxi vehicles from another AV developer, although he wouldn’t disclose which company.

“Ultimately our vision is to own, you know, hundreds of thousands of vehicles,” he said, referring to robotaxis.

This latest funding will be used to scale the company’s autonomous vehicle fleet management business, including hiring about 350 people. (Delano said its traditional mobility business is set to achieve full profitability this year.) Some of the capital will also go toward developing automated depots that it calls “nests.” These “nests” will be able to operate around the clock and use robotics to automate vehicle charging, maintenance, and servicing.

Moove has about 15 depots that are in some stage of development. Delano wouldn’t say when its automated, “lights-out” depots would come online, noting that this is a future product.

Other backers in the round include BlueCrest Capital Management, Sona Asset Management, and Raptor Group, BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, Uber, Left Lane, Silverbacks Holdings, Square Associates, The Latest Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, and the Ontario Power Generation Pension Plan.