Plentywaka, a Toronto-headquartered shared mobility startup, has announced that it has changed its name to Treepz, thus a significant shift in its business.
In a statement by CEO of Treepz Inc., Onyeka Akumah, the company said the name change, which is effective as of now, “presents an opportunity to align the company name with its Pan-African expansion plan.”
According to Akumah, it also better represents the vision of the company, which is to build the largest shared mobility platform across Africa.
It said: “After recently securing $1.2m in seed funding and acquiring Stabus, one of Ghana’s leading mobility start-ups, the company is now solely focused on expanding across Africa and harnessing the exciting opportunities in the continent.
“As part of the name change, Treepz has released a new company logo. Its core service offerings will remain the same but with new names; Daily Treepz, Travel Treepz, and Corporate Treepz.
“Its existing mission statement and black & yellow brand colours will also be retained for marketing and branding purposes. This name change is a result of in-depth discussions with our stakeholders, partners and staff.
“After we discovered that the term ‘WAKA’ could mean different things across Africa, which may be completely different from travel or movement, we decided to change the name from ‘Plentywaka’ to ‘Treepz’, which is pronounced as ‘Trips’.
“The new name boldly states our mission to provide safe, convenient and comfortable trips across Africa with plans for our expansion to 6 countries in two years on the continent.”
Akumah said the company had been looking for a globally acceptable name for the last 6 months to use in creating the right kind of positive emotions around bus trips on the African continent.
Akumah explained that the name Treepz “embodies everything that happens on the road, travelling across cities, within cities and it gives a cool vibe to the experience.
“Already existing users wouldn’t have to take any action, as the new app will automatically force an update to the new Treepz experience in Africa.”
