Zoomcar, the India-based on-demand car rental service backed by corporates Sony, Mahindra & Mahindra and Ford, has raised $92m in a series E round led by SternAegis Ventures, TechCrunch reported on Monday.
Founded in 2012, Zoomcar runs a mobile platform where users can flexibly hire cars on a monthly, weekly, daily or even hourly basis. It currently boasts over 10,000 vehicles on its platform.
The series E proceeds will be use to expand the company’s footprint in more than 20 countries over the next 18 months, chief executive Greg Moran told TechCrunch.
Electronics producer Sony’s Innovation Fund led a $30m tranche of Zoomcar’s series D round – which had a $100m target for its close – in January 2020. Regulatory filings show it then raised nearly $40m in February this year and another $5.5 from its US-based parent company, Zoomcar Inc, in May.
Automotive manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra had reportedly been in talks to take part in a planned $500m equity and debt round in early 2019, but the deal was never officially confirmed. It had already invested $27.3m to lead the company’s $40m series C round in 2018.
The 2018 round included NGP Capital (then Nokia Growth Partners), Sequoia Capital and Empire Angels. Carmaker Ford’s Smart Mobility subsidiary had led a $24m round for Zoomcar in 2016 that included Nokia Growth Partners, Sequoia Capital and Empire Angels, taking its overall equity funding to $46m.
