The Silicon Valley startup, Getaround announced on 14th October 2020 that it had bagged US$140m in its Series E funding. This deal has bought the total funding capital of the enterprise to US$600m.
This Series E funding round was led by VC People Fund along with which the new and old investors also participated. The new investors include Mark Pincus, Reid Hoffman, Pennant Investors, Henry McGovern, Steve Girsky, Julia Steyn, and Mary Chan. The participation of old investors counted Menlo Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund, Via-ID, Cathay Innovation, Triangle Peak, and a few others.
Other announcements made with the funding round
Along with the funding announcement, Getaround also announced the joining of four new executives on board.
Dan Kim, who has worked as the global sales delivery Head at Tesla and Airbnb, will be joining as North American zone Head. Laura Onopchenko, previously the NerdWallet CFO, will be onboarding as CFO; Tia Gordon, who has worked as VC people operations director at Google will be joining as People and Culture VC. And Ruth Yankoupe, the VC of OYO Customer Experience, is appointed as the Customer Experience VC.
After pandemic, up and healing!
The funding came after the tough times the enterprise faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Getaround laid off around 150 employees and reduced the size of several global teams in January. Also, the bookings dropped by 75% in March. The CEO Sam Zaid said on this, “They faced a progressively increased impact initially, but they didn’t drop to zero.” The service got restored in May, and after which, the company is seeing revenue double from what they were getting before the pandemic level. By July, they hired all of their employees back!
The funding gained in earlier summer will be utilized for in-car technology investment, reach global markets profitability, and bring in new investors. Currently, Getaround has six million-plus users worldwide and is active in 300 US and European cities.
Getaround is a peer-to-peer marketplace that lets you instantly hire cars nearby by day or hours. The service is available to provide convenient rentals with 27*7 roadside support and insurance included. With its app, people can get instant access to several options of vehicles like cars, vans, and trucks without any membership. With its proprietary car technology, ConnectTM, the enterprise creates a secured and fun car sharing experience, eliminating the need to meet the car owner. The company was founded in 2011 by Sam Zaid, Elliot Kroo, and Jessica Scorpio. It is headquartered in San Francisco and has thousands of cars available for its users.
We try our best to fact check and bring the best, well-researched and non-plagiarized content to you. Please let us know
–if there are any discrepancies in any of our published stories,
-how we can improve,
-what stories you would like us to cover and what information you are looking for, in the comments section below or through our contact form! We look forward to your feedback and thank you for stopping by!
