Drivezy raises $20 mn from Das Capital, Yamaha, Axan Partners and IT-Farm

Vehicle sharing marketplace Drivezy(formerly JustRide) has raised $20 million in its Series B round led by existing investor Das Capital, with participation from automotive giant Yamaha, Axan Partners and IT-Farm. This takes cumulative equity investments in the company to USD 31 million. The company has also secured an additional USD 100 million in an asset financing deal backed by Japan’s AnyPay.

The funding will be used to expand its presence into new markets and integrate advanced services. Drivezy plans to induct over 50,000 vehicles under the expansion plan of which more than 75 per cent would be two wheelers. Harbourfront Capital (a SPV), a subsidiary of Anypay Inc, will invest USD 100 million in purchasing cars, motorcycles and scooters over the next three years.

The company has a revenue-sharing deal with Harbourfront Capital under which these assets will be listed on Drivezy’s platform. “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,” said Shinji Kimura, Chairman of Anypay.

“The sharing economy in India is thriving and has picked up real pace in the past five years, especially within the mobility sector. This fresh investment will allow us to cement our foothold as the market leader in a growing Indian vehicle sharing market,” said Ashwarya Singh, CEO, Drivezy. “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.”

Co-founded in 2015 by Ashwarya Singh, Abhishek Mahajan, Hemant Sah, Vasant Verma and Amit Sahu, Drivezy operates peer-to-peer vehicle sharing network with over 2,000 owners as its partners. The company currently has a fleet of around 5,000 two-wheelers (motorbikes and scooters) and 3,000 cars, that attracts around 37,000 customers every month.

Twenty per cent of the company’s revenue comes from two wheeler rentals though they account for majority of the transactions on the platform. Eighty per cent comes from car rentals.

The company is currently 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 (HMSI). Drivezy plans to deploy an additional 10,000 bikes and scooters in the two cities by December 2018.

Drivezy’s competitors include Zoomcar and Revv, backed by investments from Ford, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hyundai.