South Korea-based car rental service SoCar has secured KRW 50bn ($44.5m) in funding from investors including a corporate venturing arm of telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, The Investor reported yesterday.
Softbank Ventures Asia was joined by investment firm KB Investment, venture capital firm Altos Ventures and Stonebridge Ventures, the VC arm of investment manager Stonebridge Capital.
Founded in 2012, SoCar operates an on-demand car sharing app that enables users to find and use vehicles, paying for them based on the minutes or hours for which they are used. Travellers can also locate and team up with other users travelling on the same route.
The company oversees a network of more than 3,500 cars parked in parking lots as well as outside places such as subways or shopping centres.
Following SoCar’s purchase of messenger app VCNC in July 2018 and the recent launch of a van sharing service, it has earmarked proceeds from the latest round for research and development.
The company raised $59.6m from private equity firm IMM Private Equity in April 2018, having previously collected $56m in a 2015 series B round in which conglomerate SK Group paid $51.3m for a 20% stake.
Brookside Capital, a subsidiary of private equity firm Bain Capital, also participated in the round. Bain Capital had led the company’s $18m series A round in 2014.