Ford leads $24m funding in India’s Zoomcar

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Indian car rental startup Zoomcar just said it has raised US$24 million in fresh funding, led by Ford Smart Mobility, a unit of American automaker Ford.

Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Nokia Growth Partners and Empire Angels also participated in the round.

Zoomcar rents out an array of vehicles including luxury sedans like BMWs, hatchbacks like Ford Figos, SUVs like Mahindra Scorpios, and even electric cars like the Mahindra Reva E2O. Besides filling the cars with fuel, the startup also takes care of insurance and roadside assistance so that customers only need to worry about the driving.

The target is more than 25,000 cars across 25 cities by 2018.

It raised US$23.5 million in July last year.

“As Ford expands its business to be both an auto and mobility company, we are pursuing a long-term vision to develop services and solutions that make it easier for consumers to move through cities using multiple modes of transportation,” said John Larsen, mobility director at Ford Asia Pacific.

Ford is the biggest supplier of vehicles for the startup, the companies said in a statement.

Four-year-old Zoomcar has doubled bookings in the past year, and has more than 75 percent occupancy for its fleet of 2,000 cars.

The fresh round of money will be used to reach a fleet size of more than 25,000 across 25 cities by 2018. Zoomcar also plans to “significantly expand its current airport offering across all cities.”

The startup also aims to boost its Zoomcar Associate Program (ZAP). Launched earlier this year which allows people to buy vehicles on behalf of Zoomcar, list the vehicle on its platform, and share profits on a monthly basis.