Planet42, a car subscription service founded by Estonian entrepreneurs and located in South Africa, has raised €15M, in debt and equity funding from Standard Bank.
The funding, issued, in local currency, will be used to repay the company’s Euro-denominated loans. This comes after Planet42 raised $100M through equity, credit facility, and debt last year. In total, the company has raised approximately $150 million so far. Besides its operations in South Africa and Mexico, it also has a sizable office in Estonia.
Founded in 2017 by Estonians Eerik Oja and Marten Orgna, Planet42 uses algorithms and data to assess a customer’s credit risk before offering them a vehicle rental or purchase option through a subscription model.
This is in demand — the company now receives over 60,000 vehicle applications monthly, which represents a 26% average sales growth for their South African dealers in the previous year. Additionally, the increasing demand for their services has boosted company revenue by 37% in 2023.
Eerik Oja. co-founder and CEO of Planet42
“Owning a car in Estonia, Johannesburg, and even Mexico City are completely different things. Even in London, owning a personal car is a luxury, and overall, you move slower with a car than with public transportation. However, in places like South Africa, Mexico, and many emerging markets, public transportation is slow, unreliable, and dangerous, especially for women and children”, explained Eerik Oja in his recent interview.
Planet42 has now acquired over 12,000 vehicles for consumers in South Africa and Mexico, its second market. The company secured $100 million in funding in 2023 to expand its operations in these countries.
The new funding will come in handy too, assured the company’s CEO, saying just how costly it can be for businesses based in South Africa to operate without any debt based in the local currency. In the end, these efforts will contribute to the region. “The electrification revolution is coming. Africa has abundant sources of renewable energy, such as sunlight and wind,” said Oja, hinting at the rapid electrification of personal fleets and the development of new, independent grids in South Africa and beyond.
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