Wyclef Jean has officially made his imprint in the automotive industry.

Metro Africa Xpress Inc. (MAX) plans to improve Africa’s transportation sector after securing $31 million in a Series B funding round. TechCrunch reports, the seed round was co-led by global private equity platform, Lightrock, and international venture capital firm, Global Ventures. Novastar Ventures and Proparco also participated in the round. The mobile tech startup launched in 2015, initially to complete customers’ orders. As the startup developed, it incorporated ride-hail services, vehicle subscriptions, and financing services. Three years after MAX’s inception, vehicle financing became an available service and CFO Guy-Bertrand Njoya revealed the company’s attrition rate is now “close to zero,” the outlet also revealed. “We spent time understanding drivers’ operations and it became apparent to us that most of them don’t own the vehicles they use,” said Njoya, according to TechCrunch. “It became clear that the fundamental issue that drivers face is consistent access to vehicles....

As more electric vehicles hit the road, Los Angeles-based ChargerHelp! — an on-demand repair app for electric vehicle charging stations — has closed a $2.75 million funding round. With its new funding, it plans to build out its tech platform, hire new team members and expand to more service areas, TechCrunch reports. The Black women-led company was co-founded by Kameale Terry and Evette Ellis in January 2020 after receiving demand for its services from customers and investors. Now, the company works directly with charging manufacturers and network providers to provide its services. Trucks VC, Kapor Capital, JFF, Energy Impact Partners and The Fund made investments in ChargerHelp’s! recent funding round. The inspiration behind ChargerHelp! came from Terry’s tenure at EV Connect, where she worked with various manufacturers and learned about the common problems with electric vehicle chargers. Terry told TechCrunch that when there was an issue at a charging station in the Los Angeles...