Car Equivalent of Airbnb to Expand in Europe
If you haven’t heard of Airbnb, you’re missing out. The company allows people to sign up and rent out their apartments, spare rooms, houseboats, or even Teslas to travelers looking for a more unique (and cheaper) place to stay than your typical hotel. The company has seen amazing success worldwide, and other entrepreneurs are looking to get in on the action. Enter Drivy, a company started in 2010 that wants to make people change their view of the car rental industry in the same way that Airbnb has changed the view of the hospitality industry.
Drivy is a French startup company founded by Paulin Dementhon, and is currently available in France, Germany, and Spain. The company just announced that it has raised a whopping €31 million (approx. $35 million) to expand into other European markets in the near future, including major cities like London. Future markets could include the Netherlands, Portugal, and Poland.
The idea with Drivy is to match people who need to rent cars with those who own cars but don’t use them all that often. Drivy claims that owners could make up to €150 from their cars per week when using the system to rent them out. Additionally, Drivy has an agreement with car insurance agency Allianz, which means all rentals are covered in the contract. Today, there are more than 36,000 cars listed on Drivy, though that will surely increase as the company expands.
While Drivy currently operates solely in Europe, there’s no reason to believe that expansion into the US couldn’t be possible in the next few years, especially in larger cities like New York and Chicago.
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