Carsharing marketplace Getaround has launched a new program to incentivize its audience to drive market expansion.
The New Frontiers Bonus Program rewards car owners for sharing additional vehicles in eligible markets — up to $750 per vehicle.
According to Getaround, the North American carsharing market is projected to exceed $4.8 billion by the close of 2024.
The new program is designed to "amplify" Getaround's Power Host city launch proposal initiative. This program targets car owners with two or more cars — Power Hosts — to propose a city where they would like to share a fleet of vehicles using Getaround. These hosts can work to establish and expand their small businesses, even in cities where Getaround has previously not served.
The Power Host program launched in March of this year, and so far more than 100 hosts have newly launched or expanded upon their current fleets.
"Even with Getaround active in more than 850 cities across the U.S. and Europe, there are cities where we need to accelerate the addition of supply of shared vehicles so we can keep up with demand," Getaround chief executive officer Karim Bousta said in a news release. "We want to reward Power Hosts for helping with that acceleration in all our existing as well as new U.S. markets."
Getaround has launched in 26 new U.S. cities this year so far.
Continue following the rapidly evolving carsharing marketplace and the latest mobility news on Auto Remarketing.
With a fleet of 200 Jeep Renegades, mobility services company Free2Move will provide its carsharing services to the greater Portland, Ore., area.
The company said the Portland announcement reflects growth, including a 40% increase in overall car sharing activity during the second half of last year.
Free2Move, with a presence in 170 countries and 1.2 million active customers, will provide its carsharing services to the greater Portland area beginning late spring to early summer. Portland is the latest in Free2Move’s markets that include Washington D.C., Paris, Lisbon and Madrid.
The company described Portland as an ideal location for its services, saying the city has shown a consistent commitment to alternative mobility.
Joining other mobility providers — including scooters and bikes –—Free2Move said it will work to ensure Portland residents have various personal and public transportation options.
Free2Move said that with a few clicks on an app, its customers will be able to locate a self-service car close to them and reserve it for a few minutes, a few hours or for the day.
The company’s West Coast expansion follows the 2018 North American launch of Free2Move in the Washington D.C. area.
"With the knowledge and expertise we've learned in other markets and the great satisfaction of our customers, we look forward to providing the best possible experience to the residents of Portland," Free2Move chief executive officer Brigitte Courtehoux said in a news release.
Portland Bureau of Transportation director, Chris Warner described Portland as a pioneer in carsharing.
“And Portlanders have enthusiastically embraced this way of getting around,” Warner said. “We’re excited that Free2Move will be coming to our city and that more Portlanders will have another easy and convenient transportation option.”
Stellantis is the new parent company for Free2Move.
“We are truly delighted to launch our Free2Move carsharing service in Portland,” Stellantis head of North American operations Mike Manley said in a news release. “Based on success of our Washington, D.C. operation, we’re sure that Portland will be our next great move.”
Getaround said Wednesday it has raised $140 million in Series E financing, a round led by PeopleFund that puts the carsharing platform’s total amount raised at almost $600 million.
In conjunction with the Series E round, the company has hired a chief operating officer, chief financial officer, a vice president of people & culture, and a VP of customer experience. Their collective backgrounds includes time with such companies as Tesla, Google, Airbnb and others.
As for the latest funding round, it will be used for continued development of Getaround’s connected-car technology, partnership expansion and to “strengthen its global position through continued long-term growth, and reach worldwide profitability,” the company said in a news release.
COVID-19 certainly has impacted the shared mobility space, as many consumers have leaned towards personal ownership instead of public options amid the pandemic.
However, the aforementioned connected-car technology at Getaround “enables a fully contactless experience,” the company said.
“Our contactless solution has empowered people around the world to carshare during the global pandemic, and, as a result we have rebounded from a steep initial drop of 75% in usage due to COVID-19 to achieve significant growth,” Getaround founder and chief executive officer Sam Zaid said in a news release.
“As we work to continue to scale our marketplace, we are proud to have the support of our world-class investors. Closing a round of funding negotiated in such challenging times amidst the pandemic underlines their belief that Getaround is truly the future of mobility,” Zaid said.
In addition to PeopleFund, other participants in the round included new investors Reinvent Capital, AmRest founder Henry McGovern, Pennant Investors, and Steve Girsky, Mary Chan and Julia Steyn of VectoIQ. Existing investors also participated, including SoftBank Vision Fund, Menlo Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures, Triangle Peak Partners, Asset Plus Capital, Bpifrance, Cathay Innovation, and Via-ID.
Matias de Tezanos, who is CEO and PeopleFund, joins the Getaround board.
“We are impressed at how the Getaround team and marketplace are responding to the COVID crisis with an essential service that enables users to book cars without requiring in-person interaction to hand off keys,” said de Tezanos, in the release. “This round will accelerate the company's growth and maintain market leadership.”
As far as the executive hires, the new COO is former Tesla executive Dan Kim, whose most recent post was as head of Airbnb Plus and Airbnb’s core host operations. Kim, who had led Tesla’s global sales and delivery before his time with Airbnb, will lead Getaround’s North American operations.
Hired as CFO is Laura Onopchenko, who previously had that role at NerdWallet.
For the VP of people & culture role, Getaround has brought in former Google director of people operations Tia Gordon.
The VP of customer experience is Ruth Yankoupe, who previously held that same role at OYO.
