Zoomcar raises $92 Mn in Series E round led by SternAegis Ventures

Car sharing marketplace Zoomcar has raised $92 million in its Series E round led by New York-based SternAegis Ventures with participation from international family offices and several institutional investors. 

Zoomcar intends to use the proceeds from this financing to grow its car-sharing marketplace in India and various select markets across Asia and the MENA region, said the company in a press release. The Company will also strengthen its enterprise software offerings to OEMs and insurance companies.    

The company had recently expanded across the above two regions to create a global car-sharing platform. The Bengaluru-headquartered company had also appointed Leo Wibisono Arifin as the Vice President and Country Head of Indonesia operations.

Floated by Greg Moran and David Back, Zoomcar allows users to rent cars on hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis. It employs over 300 people and operates in over 50 cities across India. Currently, the company claims to have over 7,000 cars on its platform with a presence across five nations.

On the lines of Hyundai-funded Revv, the company has also tied up with Nissan Motor India and ORIX to offer flexible subscriptions as an alternative to vehicle ownership. 

Ola is the only major competition for Zoomcar in the self-drive car rental space at the moment. Drivezy used to be an arch-rival for the Moran-led firm. However, the company was sold out to Yamaha in a transaction worth $45-50 million. Entrackr had exclusively reported about the deal on June 30.

The pandemic has impacted the mobility and hospitality businesses worst in the last fiscal (FY21). As a result, the majority of startups in these two segments either downscaled, shut down or consolidated their operations with larger companies. 

Backed by the likes of Sequoia and automaker Mahindra, Zoomcar’s funding is a silver lining for the shared mobility market in India. This round is a much-needed one for the company which is aiming to go public via special purpose vehicle (SPAC) in the US by mid-2022.

While the company is yet to file its annual financial report for FY21, it registered Rs 291.24 crore in revenue from operations in FY20 as compared to Rs 259.11 crore in FY19. During the period, the company’s total expenditure increased from Rs 468.53 crore to Rs 629.4 crore whereas losses jumped from Rs 201.92 crore in FY19 to Rs 424.34 crore in FY20.