Sony Innovation Fund leads Series D for India’s Zoomcar
Indian self-driving rental platform Zoomcar has raised $30 million in Series D funding with a contribution from a Sony-branded fund managed by Innovation Growth Ventures.
Sony Innovation Fund is a venture capital fund formed in 2016 with support from Japanese electronics conglomerate Sony Corporation. It has made more than 40 investments worldwide primarily in Japan, Europe, Israel and North America. This is the fund’s first deal in India. It comes nearly two years after Zoomcar’s previous round, which saw Mahindra & Mahindra commit $40 million.
"India is at the forefront of the shared mobility revolution, hence we are thrilled to welcome Zoomcar to the Sony Innovation Fund start-up family. Zoomcar has been a pioneer in offering best-in-class carsharing service nationwide in India. [We] look forward to the next exciting chapters of Zoomcar India's market-leading platform," Ludovic Copéré, a San Francisco-based director at Sony Innovation Fund, said in a statement posted on LinkedIn.
Founded in 2013 and based in Bangalore, Zoomcar allows users to rent cars on-demand in 45 cities across India. It has a fleet of more than 10,000 vehicles. The company claims an over 80% market share of digital subscriptions in the shared mobility space. In 2017, it introduced bicycle-sharing services and Zoomcar Associate Program (ZAP), a car-sharing service that lets people buy cars on behalf of Zoomcar, list them for rent on the platform and earn a share of the monthly rental fees.
Last year, ride-hailing platform Ola said it would launch a self-drive car rental service in Bangalore. Zoomcar's main rivals in India are currently Drivezy and Mylescars, both of which have received venture capital backing.
“Zoomcar’s primary target is to have over 100,000 vehicles on road in 18-24 months and to continue to empower its customers with better mobility alternatives at scale,” the company said in a statement. Alongside fleet expansion, the fresh capital is expected to be used to improve the company's technology and data science infrastructure.
Existing investors in Zoomcar include Sequoia Capital India, Ford Motor Company, Silicon Valley Bank, Nokia Growth Partners, Larry Summers, Lady Barbara Judge, Empire Angels, FundersClub, Athene Capital, and CyberCarrier. The company has received $130 million to date, according to AVCJ Research.
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