In much of Africa, buying a used car is a gamble. Hidden costs, inconsistent vehicle quality, and the absence of trustworthy middlemen have made the experience one of life’s most stressful financial decisions. But a new wave of startups is rewriting that narrative—led by Tokyo-based Peach Cars, which is fast becoming a model for how technology can restore trust in informal markets.
Fresh off an $11 million Series A funding round—led by Suzuki Global Ventures, with backing from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Gogin Capital, and a follow-on from University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC)—Peach is scaling its operations across East Africa. More than a mobility company, it is positioning itself as the builder of what it calls an “infrastructure of trust” for Africa’s automotive sector.
Founded in 2020 by Kaoru Kaganoi and Zachary Petroni, Peach Cars operates a full-stack digital marketplace that enables used car buyers and sellers in Kenya to transact directly—with unprecedented visibility into vehicle quality, financing options, and after-sales services. Its secret sauce is a proprietary 225-point inspection engine, modeled after Japanese automotive standards, embedded with real-time appraisal and credit scoring capabilities. This turns what is typically an offline, opaque process into a data-led, transparent transaction.
But Peach is more than a digital showroom. Its ambition is to create a lifecycle platform for vehicle ownership—spanning inspection, financing, logistics, maintenance, parts procurement, and more. Think of it less as a classifieds platform and more as the connective tissue for a digitally enabled automotive ecosystem in a region where 80% of used cars are Japanese imports, but few come with verified histories or secure handovers.
According to Kaganoi, the mission goes beyond convenience. “We’re not just improving how cars are sold—we’re challenging the assumption that African consumers should settle for less,” he says. “This is about dignity, accountability, and transforming everyday commerce through trust.”
The recent funding round is notable not just for its size—it is one of the largest Series A raises in African mobility—but also for its strategic alignment with Japan’s automotive and policy vision. Suzuki, which commands a dominant share of India’s auto market, sees Africa as the next frontier. For JBIC, Peach represents its first African startup investment, signaling a shift toward backing local innovations in emerging markets that are solving complex, real-world problems with custom-built software.
That localization is key. Both Kaganoi and Petroni have spent years operating in Africa’s mobility space, giving them an insider’s view into the structural inefficiencies that plague used car sales—from pricing ambiguity to financing friction. Their lived experience has been instrumental in shaping a platform tailored to regional realities but built with global-grade engineering and compliance standards.
Revenue is already flowing from transaction commissions, inspection services, ownership transfers, embedded auto loans, and expanding logistics operations. With the new capital, Peach plans to accelerate its regional footprint by establishing inspection hubs beyond Nairobi, growing its engineering and product teams, and rolling out logistics and parts procurement services that reinforce its end-to-end control of the vehicle journey.
The timing couldn’t be better. As urbanization and middle-class growth drive up demand for vehicles across Africa, there’s a race to create platforms that can support that growth sustainably. Investors are watching closely. And Peach’s bet—that long-term trust will beat short-term hacks—is gaining traction.
In a sector long underserved by innovation and dominated by informal actors, Peach Cars stands out not just for its tech, but for its values-first approach. If it succeeds, it won’t just change how cars are sold in Africa—it may redefine how digital infrastructure gets built in emerging markets.
