Electric vehicle taxi-hailing app NopeaRide has announced plans to exit from the Kenyan market four years after it launched its operations in August 2018.
In a statement on Tuesday, November 29, the app’s parent company EkoRent OY indicated that it was leaving the Kenyan market after it failed to raise additional funding to keep it afloat.
“We are sad to announce that InfraCo Africa Limited the minority shareholder has now filed for the liquidation of EkoRent Africa Limited in the High Court of Kenya,” the statement read in part.
This effectively brings an end to the operations of the all-electric vehicle taxi player, which sought to drive a shift to environmentally-friendly transport options.
Furthermore, the company was poised to step-up competition in the market against established brands.
NopeaRide’s exit from the Kenyan market comes hardly a year after the company received Ksh24.5 million (€200,000) in funding.
The funding was aimed at helping the firm build more solar charging hubs in Nairobi, and increase its service radius in anticipation of growth.
“We have taken our fleet of electric vehicles off the road and have notified our staff and corporate clients,” the company announced.
NopeaRide added that it was working with relevant authorities to wound up its operations in accordance with the law.
The company equally attributed its decision to end its operations in the country to the pandemic, which it noted had affected its business.
NopeaRide service was first launched in Kenya in August 2018 under the name NopiaRide by a Finnish company EkoRent OY founded in 2014.
However, the company was not part of the four companies that were recently approved by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to provide taxi services in Kenya.
In early 2022, the company announced plans to partner with a local university to build solar charging ports, but it has now indicated that it had already pulled out its vehicles from the road.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE
