Zoomcar, India’s leading self-drive* car rental company offering car sharing services, has announced that it has closed $24M in a Series B investment round. Ford Smart Mobility LLC, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, led the round alongside existing investors Sequoia Capital, Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) and Empire Angels.
Zoomcar’s capital raise will be used primarily for accelerating its innovative marketplace model along with furthering its technological lead. The Zoomcar Associate Program (ZAP) launched earlier in 2016, thereby allowing individuals to purchase vehicles on behalf of Zoomcar, list the vehicle on a dynamic basis on its platform, and then finally share in the profit on a monthly basis. The company has witnessed robust adoption with an associate base that’s growing exponentially month on month. Zoomcar expects this marketplace model will account for over 75% of its overall vehicle inventory by early 2017. The funding will allow Zoomcar to reach a fleet size of >25,000 across 25+ cities by 2018. Moreover, Zoomcar will significantly expand its current airport offering across all cities.
"We’re thrilled to welcome the Ford team on board for this next phase of growth in the Indian self-drive space. Ford was our very first OEM partner back in 2013 and this announcement just cements the fact that the two companies share many of the same core values and vision related to urban mobility. Customer experience will remain our highest priority as we scale ZAP across India in the months ahead and our relationship with Ford will no doubt help us create a world leading marketplace experience for both our customers and associates”- Greg Moran - Co Founder and CEO, Zoomcar.
Zoomcar is in a unique position as the country’s first and largest 100% self-drive car rental company, offering car sharing services. It’s currently operational in 7 cities pan-India with a fleet presence of nearly 2,000 cars.
Zoomcar’s economical pricing and flexible service model aims to transform consumer behaviour and offer them additional mobility choices including shared car ownership.
Ford has been Zoomcar’s largest supplier of vehicles and both companies have worked closely on a number of mobility experiments. Ford’s investment supports the company’s focus on smart mobility and its vision to enable consumers to easily travel between locations.
“As Ford expands its business to be both an auto and mobility company, we are pursuing a long-term vision to develop services and solutions that make it easier for consumers to move through cities using multiple modes of transportation,” said John Larsen, mobility director, Ford Asia Pacific. “Our investment in Zoomcar will help strengthen the company’s role in shaping India’s developing mobility space and provide new transportation options to help make people’s lives better.”
Well into its fourth year of operations, Zoomcar continues to see widespread and growing demand from across India and has doubled bookings in the past year with a fleet of nearly 2,000 cars, >75% occupancy, 1.5 million app downloads, and users who have traveled over 12,00,00,000kms (and counting) to over 50,000 destinations in the country.
With the dramatic vehicle count increase in recent years, the country’s urban centers are facing large scale challenges, ranging from extreme traffic congestion, dire air pollution, and a chronic unavailability of parking. Zoomcar offers an innovative solution to this predicament as a single car is used by multiple customers every month.
Zoomcar holds the distinction of being India’s first 100% self-drive car rental company, offering car sharing services. It allows users to rent cars by the hour, day, week, or month. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Bangalore, its services are presently spread across Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi NCR. Its vehicle catalogue offers a wide and extensive variety of cars for self-drive, ranging from hatchbacks to SUVs to luxury vehicles. The company’s ever expanding fleet which is currently clocking nearly 2,000 cars includes Ford Figo and Ecosport.
*Note: In India, the term “self-drive” implies a car that is driven by an individual, not an autonomous vehicle.
