India-based car rental service Zoomcar, has entered talks with potential investors including conglomerate Mahindra and Mahindra to raise $50m, LiveMint reported yesterday, citing two people close to the development.
One of the sources said three investors have expressed interest, with the talks having advanced furthest with Mahindra, though neither it nor Zoomcar have commented.
Founded in 2012, Zoomcar operates an online platform that allows users to book a vehicle that they pay for, locate and unlock through an app, and which can be used for both intercity and intracity trips.
The company entered a separate partnership with Mahindra Electric, an electric car manufacturing subsidiary of Mahindra, earlier this month.
As part of the deal Zoomcar will add 20 of Mahindra’s electric smart cars to its service in the Indian city of Mysore as part of a pilot scheme. The vehicles were financed through a deal between Zoomcar and Mahindra’s financial services subsidiary, Mahindra Finance.
Zoomcar has already raised approximately $47m in equity and debt financing, most recently closing a $24m round in August 2016 led by a reported $15m investment by car manufacturer Ford’s Smart Mobility division.
Reliance Venture Asset Management, the venture capital unit of conglomerate Reliance Group, and Nokia Growth Partners (NGP), the corporate venturing arm of communications technology producer Nokia, also invested in the round, as did VC firm Sequoia Capital.
NGP, Sequoia and Empire Angels funded an $11m series B round for Zoomcar in mid-2015 that was closed alongside $1m in debt financing from Innoven Capital, the venture debt provider acquired by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek two years ago.
The company closed its series A round at $8m in 2014 with funding from Sequoia, Empire Angels, FundersClub, Basset Investment Group and funds advised by Triangle Growth Partners. Zoomcar had received $3m in seed capital from the same investors the year before.