Drivezy Raises $20M in Series B Equity Financing and Secures $100M in an Asset Financing Deal

Bangalore-based vehicle sharing marketplace, Drivezy, has raised a total of $20M in a Series B equity financing. The company will use the capital to expand its marketplace into new markets and integrate advanced services. Founded in 2015, the company offers car, motorcycle and scooter sharing services across 9 cities in India. The round was led by existing investor Das Capital. Other investors who participated in the round include Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd., Axan Partners and IT-Farm. With the recently concluded funding round, the company has accrued equity investments of $31 million in total.
“The sharing economy in India is thriving and has picked up the real pace in the past five years, especially within the mobility sector. With less than 8% of Indian citizens owning a car, the rapidly growing car and bike sharing industry could provide convenient and sustainable mobility to millions of urban Indian residents. This fresh investment will allow us to cement our foothold as the market leader in a growing Indian vehicle sharing market,” said CEO, Ashwarya Singh.
Additionally, Drivezy has secured $100M in an asset financing deal under which the company shall induct more than 50,000 vehicles. The funds will be deployed over a period of three years, through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV); Harbourfront Capital, which will focus on investment in global shared assets. A Special Purpose Vehicle is often used by companies to securitize assets. Its operations are limited to the acquisition and financing of assets as a method of isolating risk. The establishment of the financing mechanism by Anypay Inc. for investments in shared assets is ‘the first of its kind’ in the growing Indian sharing economy. Drivezy has worked consistently with AnyPay to deploy innovative channels for financing and enlisting assets in its marketplace.
“India is a market with a huge potential for growth. However, we also understand that the country faces various hurdles to realize that potential. We have great relationships with companies across India and we will actively invest in projects and companies in the country. It has been a pleasure to work with Drivezy and we look forward to further invigorating the Indian shared mobility market,” said Shinji Kimura, Chairman of Anypay.
Drivezy’s vehicle sharing marketplace is a strategic and efficient alternative to outright vehicle purchase for consumers. It allows vehicle owners to list their idle cars, motorcycles and scooters and turn them into profit-generating assets by renting the vehicles to customers at a fraction of the cost required to purchase a vehicle. Customers can rent a car or a two-wheeler from Drivezy on an hourly, daily, weekly and a monthly basis.
The company is aggressively scaling its bike and scooter rental divisions which have added 3,000 scooters in Bangalore and Hyderabad this year under a partnership with Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. Drivezy shall deploy an additional 10,000 bikes and scooters in the two cities by December. The company has already doubled the number of vehicle listings on its platform since January this year.
“Over sixty years ago, Yamaha Motor was founded to explore what was possible on two wheels. This DNA is still with us as we invest globally in the future of urban mobility. We’re proud to invest in Drivezy, are impressed by the bold vision of the founders and look forward to productive collaborations with the company, ” said Amish Parashar, Partner at Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory, Silicon Valley. Mr Parashar will serve as an observer on the board of directors at Drivezy.
Co-founded in 2015 by Ashwarya Singh, Abhishek Mahajan, Hemant Sah, Vasant Verma and Amit Sahu, Drivezy operates India’s largest peer-to-peer vehicle sharing network. Having partnered with over 2,000 owners, Drivezy has more than 7,000 operational cars, motorcycles and scooters, which are rented by more than 37,000 customers every month. Since January 2018, Drivezy has doubled the number of vehicle listings on its marketplace and plans to deploy an additional 10,000 bikes in Bangalore and Hyderabad by December 2018.
Drivezy (formerly JustRide) was one among the few startups selected by the prestigious American startup accelerator, Y Combinator, for the 2016 summer batch. Drivezy is also backed by the internet search giant, Google.