Gozem was founded by Raphael Dana and Emeka Ajene. The startup kicked off operations in Togo in 2018 as a motorcycle ride-hailing service.
Motorcycle taxis, car taxis, and tricycle taxis are just some of the ways you can get around with their app, which also makes it easier to get food and other things you need to be delivered. To meet the needs of their growing number of users, the Gozem platform offers a wider range of services.
As if by magic, Gozem takes care of your transport and delivery needs. No more wasted time and wasted energy looking for a quality zémidjan at a fair price.
Each Gozem driver is trained and certified. Each race is recorded in real-time by GPS on the app. And each race is covered by insurance.
Therefore, you can move or have it delivered around town whenever you want with certified drivers you can trust. Gozem is committed to providing high-quality service.
How it Works
Fare Markup
In cases where demand is very high, prices may increase so that everyone who needs a ride gets one. This system called ride fare markup allows the Gozem app to improve the customer experience at every level at all times.
Whenever the prices increase due to the markup, the Gozem app notifies the customers. Some customers choose to pay and others wait a few minutes to see if prices come down.
When an increase comes into effect, a rate applied at the time is added to the standard amount of the trip.
If an increase applies to a trip at a given time, either during peak hours, high demand, or during bad weather; the Gozem application displays asking you to accept it or not before ordering.
Race
The start of a race is the responsibility of both the passenger and the driver.
Once the security measures of wearing a helmet by the passenger are taken by the passenger and the acceptance of the latter to start the race, you click on the start the race button and you can start the motorcycle for the execution of the race.
The acceptance of a race is done in record time since the countdown gives you just enough time to be able to grab your smartphone and proceed with the acceptance.
To accept a race, before the countdown ends, click on the ACCEPT button.
The connected mode is the mode in essence to receive Gozem customers for shopping. If over a long period you do not receive Gozem races even if you are connected, several parameters could explain this.
Check your e-wallet balance or Change the area so that if the balance of your electronic purse is positive then it may be that in the area, at this precise moment, shopping requests have decreased. It is therefore perhaps advisable to change the area as you wish.
If due to a connection or phone problem, the Driver or Gozem driver sees his phone crash or hang, he just has to check if he still has an internet plan in progress and restarts his phone. He will see that when the Application restarts, he gives the hand and he can continue and finish his race with the customer.
When the client changes its destination, at the level of the Gozem Client Application, the update is made automatically; therefore the Driver does not have to worry about this state of affairs because it is the number of Kilometers traveled with the customer that will be invoiced.
The most important thing is that the Driver must make sure that he has started well at the start.
Minimum Income
The minimum income is a program established by Gozem to motivate drivers to be more productive during the day.
The purpose of this program is to establish conditions that must be met by drivers to benefit from a minimum income threshold if they have not yet reached the amount of this minimum income per time slot.
These objectives are of course set by Gozem and are communicated to the drivers in advance.
To know your gain in general, go to the general menu of the application and click on the “Gain” sub-menu.
The window that appears gives you the daily and weekly earnings. In addition, it also gives you detailed statistical approaches.
Payments
For GoZem races, actions are taken depending on whether the payment method is cash or mobile money.
For payment by mobile money or by credit card, you will not have any direct interaction with the customer but you will just consult the balance of the electronic wallet to confirm the effectiveness of the payment.
For cash payments, after confirmation of the end of the race in the application, the payment screen appears with an orange background, unlike electronic payment which is gray.
The orange, therefore, accentuates the fact that you will have to collect cash before letting the customer go.
Founders
Emeka Ajene
Emeka Ajene is the Co-Founder at Gozem.
Additionally, Emeka Ajene has had 2 past jobs including Sr. Operations & Business Development Manager – Nigeria at Uber.
Raphael Dana
Raphael is the Co-Founder of Gozem, Africa’s Transportation App. He has been a Managing Partner of Reengine Ventures since 2016.
He founded Galixo, a boutique consultancy specializing in Disruptive Business Strategy, Go to Market Entry, and Growth with deep exposure to emerging markets.
Raphael has been a Startup Mentor at Singapore Management University for many years. He also had some experience in the M&A helping entrepreneurs structure their growth and exit.
He co-founded a media group in Switzerland specializing in business, finance, and lifestyle. Scaled the business through franchising in more than 20 key cities around the world.
He previously co-founded the leading web agency in Switzerland in the web 1.0 era.
Raphael founded the Entrepreneur’s Organization Geneva chapter for which he has been its first president and has lectured at several universities about entrepreneurship.
Investors & Funding Rounds
Plug and Play, Virtual Network SA
Gozem has raised $5 million in Series A financing. It follows the $7 million raised in previous seed rounds via three tranches from investors such as U.S. firm Plug and Play Ventures, Launch Africa, BANSEA, and Virtual Network. In total, the multi-vertical application has raised over $12 million.
The company will use the Series A financing to expand into more Francophone African countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, and Ivory Coast.
The company is also looking to improve its asset financing model while fully launching its financial services.
Main Competitors
Halan: This is a ride-hailing application that provides two and three-wheeler vehicle rides and on-demand logistics.
Lalamove: It is a logistics company that provides on-demand and same-day delivery services.
Pathao: This is a super-app platform with services in ride-sharing, logistics, e-commerce, food delivery, payments, BNPL, and more.
Related:
Zanifu: Story, Founders, Investors & unding Rounds.
