Zoomcar Infuses $5 Mn In Its Business, Looks To Raise More

Bengaluru-based rental car service, Zoomcar, has raised $4.8 Mn from its US-based parent company Zoomcar Inc. This news came a month after it raised $7 Mn (INR 55.7 Cr) mix of debt and equity from its US-based parent entity Zoomcar Inc and WeWork India head Karan Virwani.

According to a Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) filing of December 2 accessed by Inc42, Zoomcar Inc bought 70,402 equity shares of Zoomcar for INR 34,96,16,334 ($4.8 Mn) at a premium amount of INR 4,956 on November 8, 2019.

The previous MCA filings, which were also accessed by Inc42, stated that Zoomcar had passed a resolution to allot 97,604 equity shares worth INR 48.47 Cr ($6 Mn) to the parent entity for INR 4,956 ($69) per share on October 4. In addition, Zoomcar allotted 720 unsecured optionally convertible debentures of INR 10K each to Virwani for INR (INR 975 K).

According to business intelligence firm Paper.vc, Zoomcar held a shareholder meeting, on December 2, to pass a board resolution that would allow the company to raise INR 5.31 Cr ($740K) from Javant Davar, Monica Davar and Neel Jay Davar of Sandhar Technologies, a global manufacturer of automotive components.

According to MCA filings on December 2 accessed by Inc42, Zoomcar has sought permission to offer 89,44 and 44 unsecured, unlisted and optionally convertible debentures for INR 1 Lakh for INR 1.77 Cr ($246 K) to each of the three investors.

The company has raised close $100 Mn across series. Its investors include Trifecta Capital, InnoVen Capital, Sequoia Capital, Empire Angels, Mahindra and Mahindra, among others.

In April 2019, Zoomcar’s cofounder and CEO Greg Moran said that the company was looking to raise $500 Mn. With the investment, Zoomcar would have marked its entry into the unicorn club. According to media reports,  Zoomcar was in talks with Mahindra and Mahindra to lead the investment with $300 Mn to $400 Mn funding.

Founded in 2013 by David Back and Greg Moran, Zoomcar is a self-drive car rental startup, which rents cars by the hour, day and week. Since its launch, Zoomcar has managed to expand its services to 42 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Bengaluru and Pune, among other cities. According to Zoomcar’s website, the company serves over three thousand customers every day and has over 48 lakh subscribers and has 6.5K cars on board.

In June 2019, Zoomcar had also partnered with German automobile maker Volkswagen Polo. With this collaboration, Volkswagen plans to enter the Indian car rental market by providing its car models for rental on Zoomcar’s platform against a fixed monthly subscription fee. Zoomcar has also collaborated with other global automobile players such as Nissan, Toyota and Renault to introduce their fleets on its platform.

In November, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) also tied up with Zoomcar to reduce dependency on petrol and diesel vehicles. TPDDL will rely on Zoomcar’s electric vehicle (EV) fleet for its daily operations and maintenance work. The project will start off with the inclusion of 12 Zoomcar vehicles and will soon expand to more.

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