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Zoomcar
Company typePrivate
IndustryCar rental
FoundedFebruary 2013; 11 years ago (2013-02)
FounderGreg Moran, David Back
HeadquartersBangalore, India
Areas served
All India[1]
Services"Self-drive" car rental
Websitewww.zoomcar.com

Zoomcar is a self-drive car rental company headquartered in Bangalore, India. The company was founded in 2013 by David Back and Greg Moran .[2] As of April, the company operates in 45 cities across the country.

History

American duo[3] David Back & Greg Moran, met while studying at the University of Pennsylvania,[4] where both graduated in 2007. After graduating, Back studied at Harvard Law School[5] and Moran worked on energy financing projects.[6] The pair also went on to business school with full scholarships, Moran at the University of Southern California and Back at the Judge Business School at Cambridge University.

Back and Moran both dropped out of business school to move to India and pursue a venture in car rentals.[7] In May 2015, Back resigned from the self-drive car rental company, and decided to move back to the US citing personal reasons.[8]

Zoom officially launched operations in Bangalore in February 2013.[9] Zoom started with $215,000 in capital and a fleet of seven cars.[10]

Investors

Zoom initially raised capital from individual investors including Former US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers,[11] Chair of the UK Institute of Directors Lady Barbara Judge,[12] Vice-Dean of International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School William P. Alford,[13] Wharton Statistics Chair Edward George,[14] and the former Director of the Cambridge Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies Shai Vyakarnam.[15] Back met Summers at Harvard University, where Back was a teaching assistant to Summers.[16]

Zoomcar's institutional investors include: Mahindra&Mahindra,[17] Ford Motor Company,[18] Sequoia Capital,[19] Nokia Growth Partners,[20] FundersClub,[21] Basset Investment Group,[22] Athene Capital,[23] Empire Angels, Venture Souk,[23] OurCrowd,[24] Globevestor.,[25] and Cyber Carrier CL.[26] Zoomcar has also raised money from former Infosys CFO T.V. Mohandas Pai and his business partner Abhay Jain.[27]

At Ford's investor day presentation in September 2016, CEO Mark Fields described difficulties with Ford's prior strategy in India, but commented "Our new mobility business could be a factor that plays in there. That's why you saw us about a month ago take an equity position in Zoomcar, which is the largest car sharing service in India."[28]

Competition

Zoomcar faces competition from Drivezy, MylesCars (backed by Carzonrent) and other similar car rental companies.

Partnerships

Zoom partners with the auto manufacturers like Ford & Mahindra which allowed them to become the first car rental company in India to offer an electric vehicle (the Mahindra REVA E2O by Mahindra) and the Ford EcoSport "urban SUV by Ford" in 2013.[29] Zoom also works with locally established real estate developers, universities, hotels, and corporate IT parks to secure parking for its vehicles and offer pick-up points to its members.[30]

In November 2013, Zoom, Uber, and the Ashoka Foundation launched a month-long campaign in Bangalore called RideSmartBLR to encourage car-rental and discourage drunk driving for its health, economical and environmental benefits.[31]

Zoom was a member of Microsoft's Accelerator Plus program in Bangalore in Spring 2014.[32] This program is designed to provide more tailored assistance to later-stage start-ups as they scale their business and raise capital.[33]

Opposition

In July 2015, Zoomcar issued caution information to its customers following opposition from the Ladakh taxi union. Following an incident in which a convoy of 15 cars rented from the company was reportedly attacked by members of the union with stones and iron rods, Zoomcar issued a cautionary mail to customers traveling to Khardung La and Nubra valley.[34] The following week Zoom issued an update stating that the situation had aggravated and the company urged extreme caution to customers traveling to the region.[35] The taxi unions of Gulmarg and Ladakh continue to resist entry of non-local commercial cars in the region.[36]

Controversy

In December 2015, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) banned 54 controversial Indian ads which included a video advertisement by Zoomcar.[37] The ad was found to be in violation of India's Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 by the council, following which the advertisement was pulled off by the company.

See also

References

  1. ^ Ltd., Zoomcar India Private. "Self Drive Car Rental in India - Car Hire - Rent a car - Zoomcar". Zoomcar.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  2. ^ "14 startups to look forward to in 2014". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  3. ^ "Business News, India Stock Market, Personal Finance, IPO, Financial News Headlines - The Financial Express". Financialexpress.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "High-tech entrepreneurs flock to India". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  5. ^ "President's challenge finalists selected". The Crimson.
  6. ^ Radhika Koppanur. "Zoom Creates Self Drive Car Market Segment in India". vyapaari.in. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  7. ^ Mark Bergen (8 August 2013). "Indian Drivers Attract Larry Summers". Wall Street Journal India. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  8. ^ Ambre, Ashna (29 May 2015). "Zoomcar co-founder David Back resigns". www.livemint.com/. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  9. ^ Pranbihanga Borpuzari (23 March 2013). "Zoom Inc. lets its customers enjoy the benefits of using a car without having to own it". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  10. ^ "Attacking a $3 billion rent a car market". forbes.com. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  11. ^ "Larry Summers fuels Bangalore car hire startup". Times of India. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Self-drive car rental startup Zoom raises $215K in angel funding; targets $3B rent-a-car market". Techcircle.vccircle.com. 1 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  13. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". Techinasia.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  15. ^ Punit, Itika Sharma. "How two Americans zoomed into India's car rental market — Quartz". qz.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  16. ^ Mark Bergen (8 August 2013). "Indian Drivers Attract Larry Summers". Wall Street Journal India.
  17. ^ "India's Zoomcar raises $40M led by automotive giant Mahindra & Mahindra". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  18. ^ "Ford leads $24M investment in India-based vehicle rental company Zoomcar – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  19. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. ^ "News". Nokiagrowrthpartners.com. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  21. ^ "FundersClub". fundersclub.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  22. ^ "Empire Angels leads round for Indian car rental startup Zoomcar - PE Hub". Pehub.com. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  23. ^ a b "ZoomCar - Crunchbase". Crunchbase.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  24. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ^ "We will invest in 10-12 startups this year: Ankur Shrivastava of crowdfunding site Globevestor". Techcircle.vccircle.com. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  26. ^ Chakraborty, Sayan (20 December 2016). "Zoomcar raises funds from Chinese VC firm Cyber Carrier". Livemint.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  27. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  28. ^ Rosevear, John. "Why Ford's CEO Is Having Second Thoughts About India". Fool.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  29. ^ "Zoom Chooses Ford to Pioneer Innovative Car Rental Service in India". @Fordonline. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  30. ^ "Featured Member : Greg Moran". TIE Bangalore Chapter.
  31. ^ Shilpa Phadnis (21 November 2013). "ZoomCar, Uber launch smart riding campaign in Bangalore". The Times Of India. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  32. ^ "Microsoft Accelerator Launches New Program For Late Stage Startups In India".
  33. ^ Economictimes.com (11 February 2014). "16 tech startups selected for Microsoft Ventures Accelerator Program's latest batch". The Economic Times. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  34. ^ "Updated: Zoomcar & Myles advise caution after Ladakh taxi union revolts against self-drive rental cars". MediaNama. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  35. ^ ""The situation has aggravated"; Zoomcar advises extreme caution as taxi unions damage cars in Ladakh". MediaNama. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  36. ^ "Self drive rental service cos offer a string of benefits". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  37. ^ "ASCI bans 54 ads, including HUL, Godrej, Marico, Airtel 4G, Flipkart, Bennett Coleman & Co, HT Media, Shoppers Stop, HDFC Bank, Max Bupa, in September - Moneylife". www.moneylife.in. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
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