US-based car sharing service Getaround secured $45m yesterday in a series C round featuring SAIC Capital, the corporate venturing subsidiary of carmaker Shanghai Automotive.
Venture capital firm Braemar Energy Ventures led the round, which included Menlo Ventures, Triangle Peak Partners and Sparx Group, the manager of a VC fund backed by automotive manufacturer Toyota and financial services firm Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
The round valued Getaround at $176m, according to a secondary share solicitation seen by Fortune.
The Sparx Group fund, Mirai Creation Investment Limited Partnership, invested $10m in the company in November 2016 as part of a strategic partnership between Toyota and Getaround, but it has not been confirmed whether this formed part of the series C round.
Getaround operates an online platform that enables users to rent out their vehicles to each other. Users can reserve, find and unlock cars through their mobile devices with Getaround’s app, and the company ensures drivers are insured.
The funding will be used to further develop Getaround’s connected car technology, and to expand across North America, with the Tri-State New Jersey area earmarked as a priority market.
Sam Zaid, Getaround’s founder and CEO, said: “By turning any vehicle on the road today into a connected car on Getaround, we have created the only marketplace to instantly share cars.
“We have already seen this become an important part of how people access vehicles, and we are confident that it will be fundamental to the way cars are used in the future as they become increasingly connected and autonomous.”
Prior to the November investment, Getaround had raised $41.3m, $24m of which came from a 2014 series B round led by motoring media company Cox Automotive at a reported $200m valuation, and which included Menlo Ventures, Triangle Peak Partners and SOS Ventures.
A-Grade Investments, CrunchFund, Redpoint Ventures and angel investors Marissa Mayer, Marc Randolph and Vivi Nevo had all invested in the company in earlier rounds.
– Photo courtesy of Getaround, Inc.