After one of the most groundbreaking years we’ve experienced in decades (thanks to Covid19), we at Plentywaka, Nigeria’s leading transportation technology company are finally saying our last goodbyes to the year 2020 with an end-of-the-year review.
While a lot of people, countries, small and big businesses had a hit this year because of the pandemic, we want to share what the year was like for us at Plentywaka. We have had our fair share of the highs and lows, but even more, reasons to be grateful.
Today, Plentywaka has grown from just being a ride-sharing service to a technology-driven transportation company that has created different products and solutions to meet the needs of Africans. As of the end of 2020, we have a record of over 265,970+ completed ride bookings, while moving an average of 1200+ riders daily across Lagos, Abuja, and Delta State. The Plentywaka mobile App has been downloaded over 51,600+ times. This is in addition to the new and improved vehicles which were added to our fleet across the states. This is a tremendous feat to record for a ride-hailing service in Nigeria despite being hit by a pandemic.
Read more about how we started in January
In this blog post, we will be sharing our review of 2020 per quarter. Grab a seat and a glass of wine… You would be needing it.
January – March
The year 2020 started off on a great start with Plentywaka gaining more traction in numbers and riders. We also added new Siennas and Coaster buses in addition to the vehicles we already had in our fleet to meet the ever-increasing demands.
The Plentywaka App was also upgraded with new key features added, such as Monnify Payment Gateway, Scan to Book, amongst others.
In February, Ime Archibong, the Head of New Product Experimentation at Facebook, and his team visited the Plentywaka office. In his words, “This is one of the most exciting startups we looked forward to visiting”.
In March, we celebrated our 6 month anniversary with 100,000 completed trips. It was celebration galore at the office as we joyfully waited past office hours to do the official countdown to 100,000 rides. Watch the official countdown here.
Plentywaka was also nominated by the Techpoint Editorial Choice Award in the category of “New startup of the year”.
To cap this up, new Routes were launched in Abraham Adesanya to TBS (City Mall).
Plentywaka was also featured in over 25+ media publications.
April- June
April came with the official announcement of a lockdown where we all had to shut down our operations both in the office and the field. Weekly team meetings were held via Google hangout and Zoom.
We officially resumed operations in compliance with the state directives on ensuring safety precautions as regards Covid 19 in May. Our buses were disinfected and social distancing was enforced on all rides.
To ensure even more people got the opportunity to move safely, we launched the Staff Bus Solutions Service and added new routes on the mainland– Ikeja and Yaba, Iyanoworo to Lekki Phase 1 in Lagos State.
As a means to also help people move parcels from one location to another using simple technology, Logistics By Plentywaka was also launched. It is an aggregator platform created to provide better, safer, and affordable logistics services to individuals.
We were also featured in key media publications such as Venturnburn, Tech In Africa, Business Elites, CNBC Africa, African Business Radio e.t.c.
July- September
On the 4th of August, 2020, Plentywaka secured a pre-seed investment of $300,000 from Emfato, Microtraction, and Niche Capital. This coincided with the announcement of our expansion of Plentywaka services to another state, Abuja.
In September, Plentywaka clocked one 1year with a record of 200,000 completed rides in Nigeria. Whoops!!!
To celebrate this, we gave out free rides to our amazing riders and held a covid-compliant party at the Plentywaka office to celebrate our in-house staff, Pilots, and vehicle Assistants. Awards of recognition were also awarded to some of the staff as well as Pilots snd vehicle assistants.
We were also featured in key media publications such as Invest Africa, CGTN Africa Interview, Arise TV, TVC Interview, How We Made It In Africa.
October- December
In October, we signed our biggest partnership yet with Nigeria’s first automobile manufacturing company; Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing. This collaboration was signed to help us expand and increase our fleet of vehicles both in Lagos, Abuja, and Delta State.
Wakacab, Plentywaka’s first-ever ride-hailing service was launched in Asaba, Warri of Delta State in November. With the launch of the new-car hailing service, commuters in Asaba and Warri are sure to enjoy comfort, safety, stress-free, and very affordable rides within major roads in the city.
In November, we also won our first award for “The Most Promising Tech Startup of the year 2020” at the Nigeria Technology Awards(NiTA) 2020.
Just when we thought the year was over, we got nominated for the 6th edition of the Apps Africa Innovation Awards 2020, which celebrates the best in mobile and tech from across Africa. We were nominated in the category of the Mobility Award alongside Amitruck (Kenya), Kobo360 (Nigeria), Sigma Associates Limited (Kenya), and Tetranologie Mobility (Namibia). While we did not win this award, we are proud of this huge recognition in Africa.
Benjamindada.com also selected Plentywaka as one of the four startups to watch in Nigeria, in 2021 alongside Mono, Abeg.app, and Autochek.
We were also featured in key media publications such as The Spark by Business Day, CNBC, CGTN, and Arise TV.
The work year ended with the annual retreat where some of the Plentywaka staff were recognized for their outstanding performance throughout the year.
What 2021 Looks Like For Plentywaka
Thanks to 2020 that came with its surprises, we are excited to tackle new projects and challenges in 2021. We would be launching more routes in Lagos, Abuja, Delta State as well as moving Plentywaka to other states with and beyond the country. More transportation solutions would be created and new features to improve the use of the Plentywaka Mobile App would be launched.
*PLEASE NOTE; In our best efforts to improve our service and continue to sustain the high cost of daily operations, please be informed that there will be a slight increase in our bus fares starting January 4th, 2021. Rest assured that we won’t relent in our efforts to provide excellent service at all times.
All of these amazing reports and achievements wouldn’t have been made possible without you, our amazing riders. Despite the year which appeared tough, you never gave up on us, rather you kept on cheering us all the way, giving us more reasons to wake up and face the world.
Thank you. You are the real MVPs!
We have an exciting surprise for you. You can call it our New year gift to you. Follow us on social media to find out.
Cheers to a fruitful 2021!
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To also create an opportunity for people to not just experience the Plentywaka service, but also partner and earn, the company would be extending the Plentywaka Vehicle Partnership (PVP) scheme to Asaba. With this, people can register their vehicles on the platform and earn over N250,000 per month.
To register your vehicle on the platform, visit the website via https://cab-partner.plentywaka.com/