The stealthy moves Ladi Delano made across Africa's startup scene without dropping a single headline
Ladi Delano has built three businesses across three continents and three industries — a Chinese vodka empire, a mining venture that never got off the ground, and Moove, a mobility fintech company now valued at $2.1 billion. Most of that journey happened without a single splashy personal headline. The British-Nigerian entrepreneur, who left college unfinished because of dyslexia and partial deafness, has quietly become one of Africa's most consequential startup founders.
Source: Twitter
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- Ladi Delano is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Moove, founded in Lagos in 2020 with Jide Odunsi
- Moove raised a $250 million Series C in August 2026, valuing it at $2.1 billion
- Delano made his first millions selling Solid XS vodka in China for over $15 million
- Moove exited Nigeria in October 2026, transferring vehicles worth ₦35 billion to customers at no cost
- Delano holds Master’s degrees from Oxford and the London School of Economics
Profile summary
Detail | Information |
Full name | Ladi Delano |
Date of birth | March 1982 |
Age | 44 |
Nationality | British-Nigerian |
Occupation | Entrepreneur, Co-CEO |
Known for | Co-founding Moove |
Education | MSc, University of Oxford; MPA, London School of Economics |
Based in | Dubai, UAE |
Marital status | Not publicly disclosed |
Who is Ladi Delano?
Ladi Delano is a British-born Nigerian entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience investing in and operating in emerging markets. His grandfather, Isaac Oluwole Delano, was a Yoruba novelist who compiled a dictionary of his mother tongue. That literary lineage stands in sharp contrast to the world Delano chose to inhabit—one of deal rooms, logistics networks, and venture capital.
Delano was born in March 1982 to Nigerian parents and raised in England, where he has said he had mild dyslexia and deafness in one ear. The learning difficulties interrupted his education, and he left college without finishing. The setback did not slow him for long.
Source: Original
Early career: vodka, China, and a $15 million exit
He interned at Merrill Lynch in the United States, then moved to London, where he and a group of friends decided to enter the drinks business during a boom in premium vodka. The costs defeated them in London, so he moved the operation to China.
Solidarnosc Asia was founded in 2004, when Delano was 22, and produced a premium vodka called Solid XS. The brand reached roughly $20 million in annual revenue, distributed across about 30 Chinese cities, and its market share is estimated at 50% to 70% of the premium segment. He sold the company to a rival for more than $15 million.
Bakrie Delano Africa: the venture that never materialised
Delano returned to Nigeria in April 2012, assembling a consortium and bringing in the Bakrie Group, one of Indonesia's largest conglomerates, to form Bakrie Delano Africa — announced as a $1 billion joint investment vehicle targeting mining, agriculture, oil and gas across Nigeria.
The fanfare was considerable. The results were not. Its co-founder announced a $1 billion Nigerian investment venture fourteen years ago that produced nothing anyone can point to. Delano spent several years between ventures, and that gap shaped what came next.
Before co-founding Moove, Delano built an investment portfolio through Grace Lake Partners, a venture studio he established in 2014 to develop commercially viable businesses that address economic and social challenges. Between 2014 and 2019, he served as the firm's founding and managing partner. He later became Chief Executive Officer of JCDecaux Grace Lake, a partnership operating in Nigeria's outdoor advertising industry, from 2016 to 2019.
Who are the owners of Moove?
Moove is a Nigerian-born global startup founded in 2020 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi. He founded it with Jide Odunsi, who had worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and a management consultant at McKinsey.
The founders say they met in London and bonded over their experience as children of Nigerian immigrants. Their parents left Nigeria for Britain before starting their families, creating a relationship with the country that combined attachment with an awareness of why they left.
How Moove works
Moove was founded in response to a challenge faced by over 2 million African mobility entrepreneurs: lack of access to vehicle financing. The company bought vehicles and financed them for drivers, taking a percentage of weekly revenue toward repayment—a model it described as revenue-based vehicle financing and positioned in what it called the "mobility fintech" sector.
The company initially started with 76 vehicles in Lagos and developed its Rental and Drive-to-Own model, allowing drivers to access vehicles and work towards ownership.
Moove's global expansion has been driven by strategic partnerships with Uber and Waymo, alongside investments from Mubadala, BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, Janus Henderson, and the IFC/World Bank. Reflecting on the company's Nigerian roots, co-founder Ladi Delano said:
Nigeria is where Moove began, and everything we have built since carries something of Lagos with it.
The moves Delano made without dropping a headline
Delano rarely courts personal press. His pattern is consistent: identify a structural gap in a market, build quietly, then announce only when the numbers are too large to ignore.
The autonomous vehicle pivot
Moove's evolution from a vehicle-financing startup to ride-hailing and deliveries in Africa to a company that also owns autonomous vehicles may seem like a leap — but co-founder and co-CEO Ladi Delano said its experience in financing and human-driven ride-hailing fleets was the ideal training ground for its latest pursuit. Delano told TechCrunch:
Let's create a product where we own, operate, and orchestrate autonomous vehicles, and let's go and find partners to do it with — and that's essentially what we did.
The company is building maintenance and charging facilities — which it calls "nests" — for self-driving fleets and already works with major mobility companies including Waymo and Uber.
Under its leadership, Moove has evolved from its flagship Drive-to-Own model into the world's largest manned and autonomous ride-hailing fleet, delivering solutions across EMEA, Asia, Latin America, and North America.
The $2.1 billion Series C
Moove announced it raised $250 million at a $2.1 billion valuation, the largest single funding round of the year for an African-founded startup. The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala led the round, with Toyota's growth fund, Woven Capital, and Ion Pacific co-leading. Delano said:
Every major technology revolution becomes an infrastructure race. The internet required data centres. AI required compute. Autonomy requires fleets, charging, maintenance, data systems and 24/7 operations in every city, and that is what Moove is building.
It owns and operates a ride-hailing fleet of approximately 42,000 vehicles across 29 cities in 13 countries. The company employs 3,300 people globally and continues to provide revenue-based vehicle financing to gig drivers.
Latest news: Moove exits Nigeria
Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, the British-born Nigerian entrepreneurs behind global mobility fintech Moove, are preparing to close the company's Nigerian operations six years after launching the business in Lagos.
The move comes weeks after Uber ended its operations in Nigeria on 2 September after 12 years, putting pressure on Moove's original model.
Eligible customers will keep the vehicles they currently operate and take full ownership, with no further payment to Moove. Moove values those vehicles at approximately NGN 35 billion. The ownership transfer took effect on 1 October 2026, under an initiative it calls "Thank You Nigeria". Delano said:
Jide and I started the company because talented, hardworking mobility entrepreneurs wanted the opportunity to earn, but could not get access to the vehicles and finance they needed.
Moove's departure comes two months after it raised $250 million in a Series C funding round, reaching a $2.1 billion valuation as it accelerates the next phase of its autonomous mobility ambitions.
Ladi Delano's net worth
Reliable sources give a wide range for Delano's personal net worth, reflecting the opacity of his private holdings.
- Ladi Delano's net worth is not publicly known.
- Another source puts it at roughly N10 billion—about $24 million USD at the time of writing.
- His stake in Moove, now valued at $2.1 billion, is likely his most significant asset.
Sources of income and wealth include:
- Sale of Solidarnosc Asia (Solid XS vodka brand) for over $15 million.
- Chinese real estate through The Delano Reid Group.
- Grace Lake Partners, a venture studio and investment firm.
- Equity in Moove, his largest and most valuable venture to date.
Is Ladi Delano married?
Ladi Delano's marital status, wife, and children are not publicly disclosed. He prefers to keep his personal life private and focuses on his professional endeavours. Based in the UAE with his family, he serves as a Trustee of the Oxford-Gracelake Scholarship Programme, a Patron of the Tate Museum, and an Ambassador with Teach for Nigeria.
Ladi Delano's education
He holds a Master’s degree in Major Programme Management from the University of Oxford, a Master’s in Public Administration from the London School of Economics, and a postgraduate diploma in Global Business from the University of Oxford. He earned these credentials later in life—after his first exit—rather than before his career began
FAQs
- Who is the CEO of Moove Africa? Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi co-founded and co-lead Moove. Delano also serves as Advisory Board Chairman.
- Who are the owners of Moove? Moove was co-founded by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi in 2020. Investors include Mubadala, Uber, BlackRock, Woven Capital, Franklin Templeton, and the IFC/World Bank.
- What is Ladi Delano's net worth? Estimates range from $15 million to about $24 million, though his equity stake in Moove—valued at $2.1 billion—could push that figure much higher.
- Is Ladi Delano married? Ladi Delano has not publicly disclosed his marital status or details about his relationship. He is based in Dubai with his family.
- Who are Ladi Delano's parents? Delano was born in England in March 1982 to Nigerian parents. His grandfather was Isaac Oluwole Delano, a Yoruba novelist. His parents' details have not been publicly disclosed.
- How old is Ladi Delano? Born in March 1982, Ladi Delano is 44 years old as of 2026.
- Why did Moove exit Nigeria? Moove ended Nigerian operations in October 2026, shortly after Uber exited the country. Delano acknowledged Nigeria's macroeconomic pressures had made unit economics challenging, while Moove's global business — now centred on autonomous vehicles — had grown well beyond its home market.
- What did Ladi Delano do before Moove? He founded the Solid XS vodka brand in China, sold it for over $15 million, invested in Chinese real estate, launched the short-lived Bakrie Delano Africa mining venture, and ran Grace Lake Partners before co-founding Moove in 2020.
We also highlighted facts about Adedeji Adeleke's estimated net worth, his Pacific Holdings empire and the businesses behind his fortune
His $2 billion power plant in Ondo State is built and awaiting connection to the national gas grid. Once operational, the 1,250MW facility is expected to become Nigeria's largest single power generation plant.
Source: Legit.ng
