Naran Secures $10 Million to Expand Vehicle Financing Across Emerging Markets
UAE-based mobility fintech startup Naran has raised $10 million in equity and debt financing from UAE investment firm Landel, providing fresh capital to expand its vehicle financing model across emerging markets.
The new financing will support fleet growth in Colombia, Peru, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, alongside expansion into new markets, including MENA. Naran is also preparing to launch in Paraguay in September 2026 and plans to introduce additional fintech products built around its asset-backed financing model.
Financing Mobility Entrepreneurs
Founded in 2025 by Bayaskhalan Alexeev and Alexander Gubarev, both former Yango executives who launched and scaled ride-hailing operations across Latin America and Africa, Naran provides rent-to-own financing for cars and motorcycles.
The company targets ride-hailing and delivery drivers who often face challenges accessing traditional bank financing due to irregular income or limited credit histories. Drivers can access vehicles through repayment terms ranging from 12 to 60 months.
Naran purchases vehicles directly from manufacturers and works with ride-hailing and delivery platforms, including Yango and inDrive, to connect financed vehicles with drivers.
Bayaskhalan Alexeev, CEO and co-founder of Naran, said the company is addressing a financing gap that prevents many mobility workers from owning vehicles. He added that the model also helps ride-hailing and delivery platforms increase driver supply by putting additional financed vehicles onto their networks.
Building an Asset-Backed Fintech Platform
Naran has developed an in-house fleet management system covering driver onboarding, payment scheduling, vehicle utilisation, telematics and maintenance across its markets.
The infrastructure is also becoming a potential second business opportunity, with Naran planning to offer its fleet management software and internal automation tools to third-party fleet operators as a SaaS product.
The company also intends to provide asset-backed debt financing to help fleet operators expand their fleets and could acquire operators where the economics support such deals. This strategy would allow Naran to extend its financing and technology infrastructure beyond vehicles it owns directly.
Each rent-to-own agreement also creates a formal repayment history for drivers, generating data that could support additional credit products. Naran ultimately aims to build a broader asset-backed financing platform for emerging markets, with lending supported by physical assets and repayment records.
Expanding Across Emerging Markets
For ride-hailing and delivery companies, Naran positions itself as a vehicle and driver supply partner. Each financed vehicle is paired with an onboarded driver, while utilisation data can be shared with platform partners to help increase time on the road.
The company is seeking additional partnerships with mobility platforms expanding across Latin America, Africa and MENA.
Landel Managing Partner Aidar Musin said Naran’s combination of revenue-generating, GPS-tracked vehicles and an experienced operating team made its model particularly compelling. He added that the company’s fleet management infrastructure creates an opportunity to scale beyond Naran’s own vehicle portfolio.
By 2030, Naran aims to operate across 10 countries, create 30,000 income opportunities and deploy a fleet comprising 10,000 cars and 20,000 motorcycles.
The new financing gives Naran additional resources to pursue those targets while broadening its business from vehicle financing into fleet technology and asset-backed financial services.
