5 Travel Startups Rethinking Car Rentals Beyond Sharing
Skift Take
A cluster of comparatively under-the-radar startups have caught our notice: Two let travelers book specific cars on lots rather than broad vehicle categories (like "compact"), two are bringing metasearch to car rentals, and one is a hidden jewel of Hawaii's tech scene.
Startups continued to experiment with fresh takes on the car rental business model in the year since Skift last looked at new travel startups redefining the model for renting cars.
Peer-to-peer car sharing marketplaces, which enable car owners to rent out their cars to travelers and locals, continue to be popular.
Turo, which has raised $101 million to date, Drivy, which has raised 47 million euro ($50 million) to date, OuiCar, which was bought by French giant SNCF in 2015, and Indian brand Zoomcar, which has raised $45 million, are all thriving.
Two of the companies we name-checked a year ago were in that category. FlightCar, a car-sharing service that specializes in airports, was acquired by Mercedes-Benz in summer 2016 and then shut down. Getaround, a car-sharing service, received a $10 million investment from Toyota in October 2016.
But there are more ways to improve on, or outright overturn, the traditional car rental model than through car-sharing. Here are some companies we're keeping watching.
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