Daimler Mobility Services has participated as lead investor in a financing round of U.S. peer-to-peer carsharing market leader
06 Sep 2017 | 3273 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Daimler Mobility Services is investing in the U.S. company Turo Inc., as part of a financing round. With over four million customers and more than 170,000 vehicles, Turo is the market leader in the peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing sector in the U.S.
The financing round of the start-up has a ...
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Daimler Mobility Services is investing in the U.S. company Turo Inc., as part of a financing round. With over four million customers and more than 170,000 vehicles, Turo is the market leader in the peer-to-peer (P2P) carsharing sector in the U.S.
The financing round of the start-up has a total volume of 92 million US dollars. The round has been co-led by Daimler Mobility Services and one of South Korea’s leading companies, SK Holdings. Turo’s strategic insurance partner, Liberty Mutual, also joined the round, as did Founders Circle Capital. All existing investors joined the round as well.
At the same time, the Daimler peer-to-peer carsharing platform Croove will be combined with the U.S. company. After the successful launch of the pilot project at the end of 2016 in Munich, Germany, Croove launched in Berlin in mid-April 2017, as well as in additional German cities. Croove is bringing private car renters and owners together. The expertise and experience of Croove will serve as the basis for Turo to enter the German market within the next year. With the launch in 2018, Croove customers can use the new offers of Turo.
Commenting on the investment in Turo, Jörg Lamparter, Head of Mobility Services at Daimler Financial Services: "People want access to mobility that goes beyond their own vehicle – anytime and anywhere. We have been meeting this demand already with our mobility services brands – car2go, mytaxi and moovel – for our 15 million customers. The investment in Turo further expands our strong position in the mobility services sphere.”
Turo CEO, Andre Haddad, said: “We are proud to welcome Daimler, SK Holdings and Liberty Mutual to the Turo family. This impressive roster of strategic investors joins our existing investors in fueling Turo’s mission to put the world’s one billion cars to better use, and positions Turo firmly as the global leader in the fast growing peer-to-peer car sharing space. We’re thrilled to have them by our side as we work to reshape car ownership and travel worldwide.”