When it comes to innovation in mobility, the most known startups are the likes of Uber and Bolt.
However mobility needs vary greatly given that taxis are mostly efficient for short distance commutes. The taxis cannot replace longer distance travels.
Zuru is a peer to peer car rental marketplace that connects travelers to local car owners. The car rental market is big in Africa but it exists in its traditional sense such that as a customer you need to have the phone number of a car rental agent to get a car just like it was with taxis in the past.
Convenience
Zuru hence brings convenience in the space and also reduces online fraud by providing an escrow payment platform to safeguard customer funds from fraudsters who ask for deposit payments.
The platform currently operating in six towns in Kenya helps car owners make money from their otherwise idol cars while helping travelers who for some reason do not own a car to hire one safely.
Africa has an estimated car ownership ratio of 70 cars per 1000 people compared to about 700 cars per 1000 people in the United States. This hence provides an opportunity for Africa to leapfrog car ownership.
Users
The platform has over 5,000 users in Kenya with over 1500 bookings since early last year and is looking to expand after a successful pilot stage.
Zuru also has a partnership with Allianz, the biggest insurance company in the world by asset base to safeguard customer trips.
Why now
During the pandemic most car owners were either laid off or were asked to work from home. This meant there were more idol cars in the parking lots yet their owners needed more money since their salaries had been affected.
Market size
Africa’s car rental market is estimated at over $25 billion according to Euromonitor but the market could grow as digitisation brings convenience while reducing the cost of running a car rental business.
Need
Kenya has an estimated 12 million licensed drivers and 3 million private cars with most cars beyond the reach of many.
