Leef

Leef

روّاد الأعمال

Gideon Phillips

Gideon Phillips

Founder & CEO

Gideon Phillips is a software engineering graduate with an academic background in Business Economics at the University of Hertfordshire, England a journey he paused to pursue his startup ambitions. He describes himself as a thinker and a solutions-driven innovator. Gideon’s passion for business emerged early, sparked by childhood ventures where he made and sold snacks and even loaned money to classmates for interest.

Team

Bobby Amali

Bobby Amali

CTO

Computer Engineering graduate. Full-stack web and mobile developer with over 4 years of experience. Content Strategist & Founder of The Beat Boulevard, a music community with over 60,000 followers. Passionate about building innovative solutions, non-profit organisations and music.
K 0 $
K 0 $

  • Leef has joined FasterCapital's portfolio.
  • We help startups in building their product, increasing sales, entering new markets, finding investors, and writing and preparing their documents.
  • Entrepreneurs can join our main programs; Tech Cofounder, Grow your Startup, Idea to Product, or Raise Capital.

Idea

Leef is a hybrid ridesharing platform that addresses the growing demand for affordable and safe mobility solutions in Nigeria. Leef aims to connect riders traveling along similar routes with two types of drivers: Trip-Owner Drivers, who are everyday car owners monetizing empty seats, and Route Drivers, who are registered, consistent drivers providing a predictable service on high-demand routes. This hybrid model helps solve the liquidity issue in African ridesharing by combining flexible, peer-to-peer ridesharing with scheduled, corridor-based supply, similar to services like SWVL, but with cars instead of buses. The platform offers reduced commuting costs (30-50% lower), improved safety and transparency, and lower CO₂ emissions while providing new income opportunities for drivers. Leef plans to expand into major Nigerian cities, starting with Abuja in Q1 2026, and Lagos in Q4 2026, with an ambitious vision to become Nigeria's largest shared mobility network by 2030.

Challenge

Leef is tackling multiple key challenges in Nigerian urban mobility. The rising cost of daily transportation, with fuel prices exceeding ₦850-₦1,000, has made commuting increasingly expensive, especially in cities like Abuja and Lagos, where commuters spend between ₦1,200–₦3,500 per trip. Additionally, the inefficiency of urban transport is evident, as 70% of vehicles carry only one person, contributing to congestion, wasted fuel, and lost productivity. Public transport often lacks safety and structure, while ride-hailing services like Bolt and Uber are too costly for daily use. Many people resort to offline carpooling, but this comes with risks such as lack of verification, emergency support, and insurance. The absence of a reliable, affordable, and safe solution at scale creates a significant gap in the market, which Leef is working to fill.

Solution

Leef’s hybrid solution offers a scalable and efficient approach to shared mobility. The platform operates on a two-sided supply model that combines Trip-Owner Drivers (peer-to-peer) with Route Drivers (platform supply). Trip-Owner Drivers post their trips in advance, providing low-cost, shared rides along common commuting routes, such as campuses and corporate clusters. This peer-to-peer approach helps reduce operational costs and fosters community adoption. On the other hand, Route Drivers, whether independent or Leef-managed, provide consistent, scheduled rides along popular corridors. Independent Route Drivers use their own vehicles and choose daily routes, while Leef-Managed Drivers operate company-provided vehicles in high-demand areas, ensuring guaranteed availability. This hybrid model ensures liquidity, offering a diverse supply of rides without the high operational costs typically associated with traditional ride-hailing services.


Are you interested in investing in Leef?


Let us know!

برامجنا

تأمين رأس المال

نساعد الشركات الناشئة على جمع التمويل من خلال التواصل مع المصتثمرين المناسبين وتقديم دعم وخدمات متكاملة

تمويل مشاريع ضخمة

حلول تمويل واسعة النطاق للشركات الناشئة والشركات ذات إمكانيات النمو الكبيرة.

الشريك التقني

نصبح الشريك المؤسس التقني لشركتك، ونتولى تطوير المنتج ونقدم خبرات تقنية استراتيجية.

حسّن مبيعاتك

قم بتوسيع أعمالك من خلال استراتيجيات وموارد وشراكات تركز على النمو.

من فكرة إلى منتج

حوّل أفكارك المبتكرة إلى منتجات مكتملة وجاهزة للسوق بمساعدتنا المتخصصة.

تمويل مشاريع الإعمار

حلول تمويل شاملة مصممة خصيصًا للشركات الناشئة والشركات العاملة في قطاع العقارات.

فرانتشايز للشركات

استكشف فرص الامتياز التجاري وقم بتطوير أعمالك ضمن نموذج عمل مُثبت.

حقوق الملكية الفكرية

احمِ حقوق الملكية الفكرية الخاصة بك مع توجيه خبراء في براءات الاختراع والعلامات التجارية وحقوق النشر والمزيد.

بدء شركة في الإمارات

نحن نساعدك في تأسيس عملك في الإمارات من خلال حلول مخصصة، دعم قانوني، واستراتيجيات دخول إلى السوق.

أخبار Leef (1)

Leef Partners with FasterCapital to Scale AI-Pow ered Carpooling in Nigeria Leef
02 Dec 2025

Leef Partners with FasterCapital to Scale AI-Pow ered Carpooling in Nigeria Leef

Abuja, Nigeria & Dubai, UAE - Dec 02, 2025

Leef and FasterCapital today announced a strategic partnership through FasterCapital’s EquityPilot program to accelerate Leef’s AI-powered hybrid ridesharing platform. The collaboration will fast-track Leef’s Abuja pilot (Q1 2026) and Lagos expansion (Q4 2026) to tackle rising commuter costs, congestion, and safety gaps across Nigerian cities by combining peer-to-peer trip owners with scheduled route drivers.

Market opportunity & problem

Nigeria’s urban mobility market faces soaring fuel costs, severe congestion and fragmented informal carpooling. With 50+ million daily commuters and limited affordable, safe options, middle-class professionals and students pay ₦1,200–₦3,500 per trip. Existing players focus on individual ride-hailing or bus corridors; there is a white space for predictable, low-cost shared car-based commuting that balances liquidity, safety and unit economics.

Startup solution & differentiation

Leef’s hybrid model pairs Trip-Owner Drivers (peer-to-peer seat monetization) with Route Drivers (independent and Leef-managed) and an AI matching engine that optimizes route overlap, pickup points and seat fill. Riders get 30–50% lower fares than ride-hailing, verified drivers, SOS support, in-app chat, wallet receipts and gender visibility. Drivers earn per-seat revenue with subscription tiers and fuel discounts. Early projections target 3,000 drivers and 40,000 riders in Year 1 (Abuja), scaling to 6,000–8,000 drivers and 150,000 riders by Year 2 across Abuja and Lagos. Leef’s hybrid supply model addresses the core liquidity barrier that has limited carpool platforms in Africa.

FasterCapital partnership value

Through EquityPilot, FasterCapital will provide Leef with strategic mentorship, product and DevOps support, go-to-market playbooks, and assistance in capital raising. FasterCapital’s selective criteria and global acceleration experience validate Leef’s market fit and technical approach. The partnership includes phased capital deployment, KPI-driven milestones, and introductions to corporate commuter customers and fuel partners. FasterCapital’s endorsement accelerates trust-building with regulators, enterprise clients and institutional partners while shortening Leef’s time-to-scale.

Executive quotes

“[Leef] exemplifies the type of market-driven innovation we back — technology that fills a clear mobility gap with strong unit economics and social impact,” said Hesham Zreik, Founder & Managing Partner, FasterCapital. “FasterCapital will help Leef operationalize product-market fit and scale responsibly across Nigerian corridors.”

“Partnering with FasterCapital enables Leef to deploy our AI matching and hybrid supply model faster and with stronger enterprise partnerships,” said Gideon Phillips CEO Leef. “We aim to make commuting affordable, safe and reliable while creating driver income opportunities.”

Growth trajectory & milestones

Near-term priorities: launch Abuja pilot Q1 2026, onboard route drivers, finalize corporate and fuel partnerships, and refine matching algorithm. Q4 2026: Lagos expansion and Leef-managed vehicle rollout. Funding ask: ₦50M to fund tech (60%), talent (20%) and market launch incentives (10%). Medium-term: multi-city expansion by 2027, DaaS commercialization and corporate commuter plans to reach Nigeria’s largest shared mobility network by 2030.

About Leef

Leef is a Nigeria-focused hybrid ridesharing startup using AI-powered matching to connect riders with Trip-Owner and Route Drivers. Leef reduces commuting costs by 30–50%, enhances safety and transparency, and lowers emissions while creating driver income opportunities. Launch markets: Abuja (Q1 2026) and Lagos (Q4 2026).

About FasterCapital

FasterCapital is a global startup accelerator and seed investor providing technical, operational and fundraising support through programs like EquityPilot. FasterCapital identifies scalable tech startups and accelerates product development, market entry and capital formation via mentorship, engineering resources and investor introductions. Its selective cohort model prioritizes high-impact solutions across fintech, mobility and enterprise SaaS.

أرسل بريد إلكتروني!