Naran, a mobility fintech focused on emerging markets, has raised $10 million in debt and equity financing from Landel to finance more vehicles and expand its operations into new markets. The funding is expected to help the company increase access to cars and motorcycles for ride-hailing and delivery drivers while supporting its wider plans to build a technology and financing platform for fleet operators.
Founded in 2025 by Bayaskhalan Alexeev and Alexander Gubarev, both former Yango executives who helped launch and scale ride-hailing operations across Latin America and Africa, Naran currently operates in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Colombia and Peru. The company plans to launch in Paraguay in September 2026 and is also considering further expansion across Africa and the Middle East and North Africa region.
Financing More Vehicles for Drivers
Naran’s main business is based on a rent-to-own model that allows drivers to access cars and motorcycles without having to pay the full purchase price upfront. The company buys vehicles directly from manufacturers and provides them to independent drivers, who repay the cost over periods ranging from 12 to 60 months.
The vehicles are used for ride-hailing and delivery services through platforms including Yango and inDrive. This model addresses a major challenge for drivers in emerging markets, where irregular incomes and limited credit histories can make traditional bank financing difficult to obtain.
“Our goal is to make vehicle ownership accessible to mobility entrepreneurs, helping them increase their income and build financial security,” said Alexeev, CEO and co-founder of Naran. He added that each vehicle financed also helps address a supply shortage for ride-hailing and delivery platforms by putting more active drivers on their marketplaces.
The opportunity is particularly significant in Africa, where nearly 88% of employment is informal. In cities such as Abidjan, limited mobility is estimated to reduce national income by 4% to 5%. At the same time, ride-hailing is becoming an important source of income, with African drivers earning up to 130% more than workers in comparable-skill jobs, according to Oliver Wyman.
Africa’s shared mobility market is expected to nearly double to about $8 billion by 2030, creating more than 550,000 additional income opportunities.
Building a Wider Financing Platform
Naran is also developing technology that manages its entire fleet operation, including driver onboarding, payment scheduling, vehicle tracking, telematics and maintenance. The company plans to make this technology available to other fleet operators as a software-as-a-service product.
This means Naran could serve fleet operators not only through financing but also through fleet management technology and automation. It also plans to provide asset-backed debt financing for fleet expansion and, where commercially viable, acquire operators outright.
The company sees vehicle financing as the starting point for a wider financial services business. Each repayment creates a formal financial history for drivers, giving Naran data that could eventually support other asset-backed financial products.
Landel Managing Partner Aidar Musin said Naran stood out because its financing is backed by revenue-generating, GPS-tracked vehicles and supported by daily cash flows and fleet management technology. He said the structure gives the company room to scale beyond its own fleet.
By 2030, Naran aims to operate in 10 countries, create 30,000 income opportunities and deploy fleets of 10,000 cars and 20,000 motorcycles. The latest funding gives the company additional capital to test whether its financing and fleet management model can scale across very different emerging markets while creating more opportunities for drivers and supporting the growth of mobility platforms.
