German car giant Daimler and South Korean conglomerate SK Holdings have led a $92 million investment in Turo, a San Francisco-based start-up that lets people rent out their personal cars.
The funding could help the young business withstand incursions from traditional car-rental companies.
More than 4 million people use Turo’s marketplace to swap cars for a daily fee. Owners list their vehicles on the site for renters hunting for a discount or a specific model to drive. Once there’s a match, the users pick a time and meeting place to exchange keys. The company takes a 25 per cent cut of transactions.
The new funds will go toward growth in Germany, where Turo will take control of Daimler's struggling Mercedes auto-sharing service Croove, and throughout Asia. The investment values the nine-year-old company at about $700 million, nearly double the last round.
Turo fits into Daimler’s shift toward investing more in transportation technologies that cater to young city-dwellers, who are less interested in owning cars.