South African startup LÜLA, which has developed an app that connects corporate commuters to private shuttles, has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on the Uprise.Africa platform as it looks to raise ZAR2.5 million (US$180,000).
Launched in 2016, LÜLA aims to save commuters time and money, and allows them to request, track and pay for rides. It provides its solutions to individuals as well as corporates themselves, who want to shuttle their staff to work and back on a scheduled basis.
It secured a small amount of funding from the Startupbootcamp AfriTech accelerator last year, to go with a seed round it raised in July, but is now pursuing an equity crowdfunding campaign with Uprise.Africa in a bid to raise a further ZAR2.5 million to expand its operations. Uprise.Africa, which itself raised funding last year, facilitates the whole investment process and enables multiple investors to support entrepreneurs.
“We are pleased to launch our first crowdfunding campaign through Uprise Africa. This is a great opportunity for us as a brand to grow and to extend our service to other parts of South Africa,” said Velani Mboweni, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of LÜLA.
“With a bigger fleet of shuttles, LÜLA can alleviate congestion and save up to 20 per cent of the fuel costs of travelling to work. We are able to save our passengers up to 80 per cent of auto-related expenses and free up 100 per cent of the time spent driving.”
In the past three months, LÜLA has transported 150 passengers from corporate clients including the likes Aurecon, PwC and Old Mutual.
