Vehicle fleet management services provider Element Fleet Management has paid A$7.2m ($5.7m) for a 12.5% stake in Australia-based car rental service Splend, Australian Financial Review reported on Friday.
Founded in 2015, Splend provides vehicles for drivers working for ride hailing platforms and food delivery services such as Uber, UberEats and Taxify, all of which are present in Australia. It is currently negotiating deals with automotive manufacturers.
The company manages a 1,700-strong fleet of vehicles across nine Australian regional markets as well as London in the UK, Toronto in Canada and Mexico City in Mexico. It charges A$269 a week in Australia for rental, with slightly higher rates for instalment purchases.
Element provided the equity funding in the third quarter of 2017 according to a financial report, alongside approximately $173m in debt financing. Splend plans to use the capital to expand the size of its fleet to 15,000 over the coming years.
Chris King, founder and CEO of Splend, told AFR: “Over the next few years we see ourselves getting to 15,000 vehicles. Australia is a small market, but in Mexico City there are more people in one city than the whole of Australia and public transport is poor and there are high barriers to car ownership.
“Australia is our home and our primary market, but I have relocated to London to spearhead the international launches and we have had other senior leaders move to Canada and Mexico too.”