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§ Private Profile · Nairobi, Nairobi Area, Kenya
Peach Cars is a technology company.
Peach Cars is building the infrastructure to power improved trust, transparency, and customer experience in the growing used-vehicle market across Sub-Saharan Africa. They provide a solution for buying and selling vehicles with a focus on quick, secure, and hassle-free transactions.
Peach Cars has raised $15.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Peach Cars has raised $15.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Peach Cars is a Kenyan technology company operating a C2C used-car marketplace that builds infrastructure for trust, transparency, and efficiency in vehicle transactions across Sub-Saharan Africa.[1][2][3] It serves individual buyers and sellers facing opacity in the informal used-car market—where over 80% of vehicles are Japanese imports—by offering a full-stack platform with proprietary 225-point inspections, real-time appraisals, secured payments, handovers, financing, and after-sales services like maintenance and parts.[1][2][4] The company solves problems of fraud, poor information, and hassle in car buying/selling, generating revenue from commissions, inspections, and value-add services; it has sold hundreds of cars, hit over $200,000 monthly GMV (10x growth since 2022 launch), raised $5M seed in 2023 and $11M Series A in 2025 led by Suzuki Global Ventures, and plans regional expansion.[1][2][4]
Peach Cars was founded in 2020 in Tokyo by Kaoru Kaganoi and Zachary Petroni, blending Japanese auto expertise with Kenyan market needs, and launched operations in Nairobi in November 2020.[2][3][4][5] Kaganoi, emphasizing dignity in African commerce, and Petroni, the COO highlighting user education on car ownership, spotted the gap in Kenya's fragmented used-car sector dominated by informal networks and limited transparency for Japanese imports.[1][2] Early traction came from automating inspections via a smart engine device benchmarked to Japanese standards, achieving hundreds of sales and rapid GMV growth within two years, backed by investors like University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC).[1][3]
Peach Cars stands out in Africa's mobility space through tech-driven trust and end-to-end services, unlike financing-focused peers like Autochek or basic classifieds like Jiji.[1][2]
Peach Cars rides the wave of digital transformation in emerging-market mobility, digitizing Africa's opaque used-car trade amid rising vehicle demand in East Africa and Sub-Saharan regions.[2][4] Timing aligns with post-pandemic formalization of informal sectors, Japanese investors like Suzuki and JBIC eyeing Africa as the next frontier after India, and investor appetite for trust-based infrastructure in fragmented markets.[2][4] Favorable forces include 80% Japanese import reliance, consumer demand for transparency, and patterns of software solving real pain points (e.g., logistics, financing).[1][2] It influences the ecosystem by pioneering "infrastructure of trust," inspiring regional hubs, parts supply, and lifecycle platforms that challenge low standards and enable scalable commerce.[2][4]
Peach Cars is poised to dominate East African used-car markets by leveraging Series A funds for inspection hubs, team growth, logistics/parts expansion, and entry into other Sub-Saharan countries, evolving from marketplace to full vehicle ecosystem.[2][4] Trends like AI transaction engines, embedded finance, and Japanese-African tech bridges will accelerate this, potentially capturing formalizing trade volumes amid urbanization and middle-class growth.[2][4] Its influence may grow as a benchmark for dignified, tech-enabled commerce, tying back to its core mission: revolutionizing car ownership with transparency for every buyer and seller.[2][3]
Peach Cars has raised $15.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Peach Cars's investors include Avaana Capital, UTEC - The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, Hiroaki Ohta, Peter Kenevan, Shintaro Yamada.
Peach Cars has raised $15.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $10.0M Series A in June 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2025 | $10M Series A | — | Avaana Capital, Utec The University OF Tokyo Edge Capital Partners | Announced |
| Jun 1, 2023 | $5M Seed | — | Avaana Capital, Utec The University OF Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, Hiroaki Ohta, Peter Kenevan, Shintaro Yamada | Announced |