RelayRides, one of the first online services to makepeer-to-peer carsharingsafe and legal, recently announced that several additional big name investors would now be lending their financial clout to ensure the company’s continued growth.
Shasta Ventures and sharing economy expert, entrepreneur and “The Mesh” authorLisa Ganskyare the latest to join Google Ventures and August Capitalin in boosting the company’s total Series A.2 funding to $10 million. The new investments will cover RelayRides’ expansion throughout San Francisco and Boston proper.
RelayRides only launches in regions that are home to an adequate number of members, ensuring that the service is viable and that owners successfully connect with borrowers.Unlike other carsharing operations, RelayRides leverages existing, often idle autos rather than putting fleets of new cars on the road.
“The future of business is indeed about sharing, and we are at the beginning of a major shift in our economy and lifestyle where access triumphs over ownership,” said Gansky. “RelayRides is one of the shining examples of this; they are doing it right, by turning unused value into real assets for local communities, economies and the planet.”
A growing number of consumers use the service to safely lend their cars to neighbors – and generate on average $250 per month per vehicle. The company, which has unmatched security technology, backs its service with a $1M insurance policy.
Shasta Ventures董事总经理罗布•康尼比尔(Rob Coneybeer)表示:“点对点拼车不再是一种理论上的概念,它已经出现了,而且正在通过RelayRides提供的创新服务实现。”“RelayRides是一个经过验证的共享经济榜样。与其他汽车共享公司不同,它是最安全的服务,因为它允许车主在他们的汽车受到威胁时远程脱离他们的汽车——这是这种服务的关键安全功能。”
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Private Carsharingsays
Private carsharing is also becoming more popular in Europe. Examples of this can be found onhttps://www.whipcar.com/(WhipCar in Great Britain) andhttps://www.rent-n-roll.de/(rent-n-roll in Germany).