Zipcar
35 Thomson Pl, Ste 600, Boston, MA, 02210, United States
Overview
Zipcar is a membership-based car-sharing company that provides automobile rentals to its members, billable on an hourly or daily basis. Members are able to view vehicle availability and reserve a self-service car via the internet, iPhone app, or telephone, in increments as short as one hour and pay only for time they reserve. Zipcar vehicles report their positions to a control center using in-car technology. Zipcar was founded in 2000 by Cambridge, Massachusetts. On October 31, 2007 Zipcar merged with rival Flexcar. In 2009 Zipcar has become the world's largest car-sharing service, sharing 6,000 vehicles among 275,000 drivers in 49 U.S. cities, Vancouver, Toronto, and London. On April 1, 2010, Zipcar bought London-based car-sharing firm Streetcar in its latest bid to expand across Europe.
- Total investments
- 1
- Lead investments
- 1
- Investments · 12mo
- 0
- Active investors
- 0
Sector focus
- Car Sharing
- Public Transportation
- Transportation
Investment portfolio
- Wheelz
Led · Series A · Feb 2012
Wheelz is a campus-focused peer-to-peer car-sharing platform that connects students via Facebook integration, mobile apps, and an in-car hardware system called DriveBox. After owners install the free DriveBox and list their cars, renters unlock vehicles with an iPhone app or Wheelz card, and owners set hourly, daily, and weekly prices. The company provides a Key Box for unattended key exchange, a gas card for renters, free 24/7 customer support, roadside assistance, and a million-dollar insurance policy that does not affect owners' personal insurance. Wheelz launched at Stanford and expanded to UC Berkeley, USC and UCLA. Financially, Wheelz has raised a $13.7M Series A led by Zipcar plus a prior $2M seed, bringing total funding to just under $16M. Board changes tied to the financing include Fontinalis partner Mark Schulz joining Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith on the company’s board, and former EY vice-chair Jim Freer also joining. The company is positioning to capitalize on rising campus demand for P2P car-sharing amid competition from RelayRides and GetAround. Wheelz is a campus-focused P2P car-sharing service that launched initially at Stanford University. The product combines Facebook integration and an iPhone app with proprietary in-car hardware called DriveBox to enable remote unlocking and access. Wheelz installs the DriveBox for free and supplies a secure Key Box with a gas card; owners set hourly, daily, or weekly prices and owners' gas costs are deducted from monthly earnings. Renters are covered by the company’s million-dollar insurance policy for the duration of a rental, and the platform offers 24/7 customer support and roadside assistance. The service offers a wide range of vehicle types and emphasizes trust via social integration. The founding team includes CEO Jeff Miller (ex-Better Place) and CTO Akhtar Jameel (former Mercedes‑Benz R&D lead), who bring automotive and connected-car expertise.
Team
No current team members are available.