Zoomcar Startup – The Blockbuster Story of Giant Indian Car Sharing

Bangalore based Zoomcar – The Startup That Made Driving Convenient

There’s no need to be concerned about mileage, gasoline prices, insurance, or automobile breakdowns any longer! Customers enjoy more control, privacy, and independence thanks to Zoomcar’s self-driving cars. With the app on your phone, you may book a self-drive automobile in each city you visit and feel at ease wherever you go. Zoomcar has made driving more convenient for travellers across the country, and it is rapidly moving into cities. In this article, we will dive deep into Zoomcar, and its services, including founder, tagline, company model, revenue, growth, problems, funding, and investors.

Fun Fact : With one lakh cars, Zoomcar now has a 75% market share and plans to increase to an 80-85% in the following 18 months.

Zoomcar Startup – Company Highlights

• Startup Name – Zoomcar
• Founded - April 2012
• Founders - Greg Moran & David Back
• Headquarter - Bengaluru, India
• Sector - Personal Mobility
• Legal Name - Zoomcar India Private Ltd
• Website - zoomcar.com
• Contact - [email protected]

Zoomcar – India’s First Car Sharing Service

With the debut of car-sharing services in 2013, Zoomcar enjoys the distinction of being India’s first personal mobility platform. It is now the market leader in the private mobility arena, with over 10,000 vehicles in its fleet, and plans to add another 50,000 cars by the end of the fiscal year. Zoomcar allows users to rent automobiles by the hour, day, week, or month, emphasizing the mobile experience. The company, headquartered in Bangalore, employs over 300 individuals and operates in more than 50 locations across India. In addition, as of September 22, 2021, Zoomcar has a presence in roughly five nations.

Note : Zoomcar launched India’s first peer-to-peer car marketplace in 2018 with the debut of its shared subscription mobility model and now has a market share of over 90% in this arena.

Zoomcar Startup - Founders

• Greg Moran - Greg Moran’s concentration was finance after graduating from college, but he was always preoccupied with the environment and sustainable development. He was employed by a New York-based clean-tech investment bank, with a global focus on solar, wind energy storage, and other related technologies.
• David – David saw the potential for car rentals after coming to India with Greg. They had also considered founding a company in the renewable energy area but ultimately settled on the transportation sector. As a result, David and Greg conceived Zoomcar as an hourly car rental platform. David stepped down as President of the company in 2012. He is, however, still a member of the company’s board of directors.

Fun Fact : Zoomcar recently announced that its shared mobility platform has a whopping 15,000 car subscription run rate.

Zoomcar Startup – Brand Name, Tagline, and Logo

• Tagline - The startup’s motto is “Never Stop Living.”
• Brand Name - The founders desired a name with a distinct Hindi tone and used it in jingles. A word beginning with a ‘Z’ clearly fits the criteria on this front, and they eventually settled on Zoom. Finally, in 2014, they made the switch to Zoomcar.
• Logo – The logo of the company is in green color.

Zoomcar Startup – Funding and Investors

Zoomcar has raised around $274.1 million in 20 fundraising rounds so far.

Zoomcar - Revenue & Business Model

Zoomcar charges hourly and daily tariffs that starts at Rs 50 per hour and go up to Rs 250 per hour, depending on the vehicle type. Long-term subscriptions begin at Rs 15000 per month and go up to Rs 45000 per month, depending on the car. The company usually takes a 30% take rate on rental bookings. The co-founders made no mention of profit margins other than to say that the company has been unit economic positive since its inception.

Revenue Numbers - Zoomcar’s revenue in FY19 was 259.1 crore, up 67% from the previous year’s 155 crores. Zoomcar reported a net loss of 202 crores in FY19, compared to 116.4 crores in FY18.

Zoomcar - Challenges as a Startup

Some of the challenges faced by the company are as follows:

• Personal Mobility: The personal mobility category in India is rapidly increasing, and the co-founders regarded it as the most in need of disruption. Still, the road has not been without its difficulties.
• Unable to get a license: Zoomcar needed a permit to begin car rentals, but it could not obtain one. It was because the Contract Carriage Permit required them to have vehicles with yellow board license plates.
• Lacked a fleet: Zoomcar lacked a fleet and needed a partnership with a fleet owner as quickly as possible.
• People refusal: Four people flatly refused Zoomcar, and the founders’ meeting with Ramesh Tours & Travels came down to the wire. If it didn’t work, it meant returning to the United States.

Zoomcar Startup – Recognition and Achievements

Zoomcar won many awards, including Top Place to Work and Top Brand Marketing Campaign. It won several marketing accolades each year, such as:

• Excellence in Digital Advertising and Marketing - CIDCA Award
• ACEF Award
• The Best ATL Campaign award at the mCube 2019.

Zoomcar Startup – Future Plans

Zoomcar is one of the country’s top subscription-based car rental companies. Given the current state of affairs, businesses expect exponential growth as individuals prefer personal transportation.

So, some of the plans of the company are as follows:

• They’ve already seen a 400% increase in demand, which we expect to level off at 200-300% in the coming months.
• Zoomcar embraces technologies like AI and IoT to provide an excellent experience to its consumers, while COVID-19 forces operations to go digital.
• It also includes a keyless entrance system, which reduces human interaction and virus transmission.
• Before and after each drive, each car gets wholly sanitized. In addition, Zoomcar has adjusted its mobile app with deep-rooted technology models to allow users to reach out at any moment in case of a query via emails, messages, and chatbots.