China-based car sharing service Atzuche has collected RMB400m ($58m) in a series C round featuring media company Hearst and insurer China Pacific Insurance, China Money Network reported yesterday.
The round included venture capital firm Matrix Partners, private equity firms ChinaEquity Group and Everbright Ivy Capital, and CSC Financial, the investment bank which trades as China Securities.
Hangzhou Financial Investment Group, a state-owned asset manager backed by the municipal government of Hangzhou, also participated in the round.
Founded in 2013, Atzuche operates a peer-to-peer car sharing platform through which users can rent their vehicles to each other.
The series C capital will be used to improve Atzuche’s services and expand its reach across China. The company plans to boost its coverage from the 25 cities in which it currently operates to 40 during the first half of 2017 and 100 by the end of the year.
Atzuche claims it has 5 million users and 200,000 registered vehicles on its platform, up from 3 million users and 100,000 registered cars in July 2016, when the company raised more than $15m in series B+ funding.
China Pacific and Hearst’s corporate venturing unit, Hearst Ventures, took part in the series B+ round, which was led by private equity firm Panda Capital and backed by Ivy Capital, Matrix Partners and China Securities, according to AllChinaTech.
Atzuche secured $47m in late 2015, in a series B round backed by China Pacific, Hearst Ventures, Matrix Partners, Ivy Capital and VC firm Ceyuan Ventures.
The company had previously closed a $10m series A round led by Matrix Partners in 2014 that, according to China Travel News, also included venture firms Banyan Capital and Qingcong Capital.