Hyundai wants pie of self drive segment, leads $14.3 Mn Series B round in Revv

India’s second largest car seller Hyundai has led $14.3 million Series B round in Gurugram-based car rental startup Revv. This marks Hyundai debut in self drive car sharing model in the country.

According to a TechCrunch report, the current capital infusion is part of a larger $14.3 million Series B round, which also saw participation from Japan’s Dream Incubator, Telama Investment and Sunjay Kapoor of auto component firm Sona BLW.

Existing investors Edelweiss and Beenext also took part in the deal

As a part of the strategic deal,  the South Korean auto major will explore ways to support Revv's car-sharing service, including supplying car-sharing products, developing new mobility service platforms, and marketing.

Revv, which competes with Zoomcar, Carzonrent, Drivezy, and Myles also brings Hyundai and its counterpart Mahindra & Mahindra together. Anand Mahindra-led firm is a common investor in Revv and a partner cum lead investor in Zoomcar.

In December 2016, Revv had raised $9 million in equity from Edelweiss Private Equity and debt from Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services and car leasing platform LeasePlan India.

Revv was floated in 2015 by ex-McKinsey executives Anupam Agarwal and Karan Jain. It lets customers order a self-driving car at their doorsteps and have it picked up later from the same place.

The company charges on an hourly basis depending on the choice of car, city and booking date.

Currently active in 11 cities in India including Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Pune, Revv has a fleet of around 1,000 vehicles and claims to have served 300,000 users to date.

With the fresh capital infusion, the company plans to expand it to 30 cities over the next 12-18 months while growing the fleet size to 10,000-12,000.