Drivezy, a Bengaluru-based startup that offers self-driving cars and bikes on hire is close to raising fresh capital to the tune of $60 million in what could be termed its Series C funding. Incidentally, the company had raised $20 million only in November 2018 which was a Series B funding. The new effort at fortifying its finances is a clear indication of the promoters’ commitment to grow their economy vehicle sharing business.
The three-year-old startup has a bevy of investors who have already reposed their faith in it. These include Das Capital, Bain Capital, Accent Equity Partners and IT-Farm Corp. While Das Capital is an investment arm promoted by Japanese investor Shinji Kimura, Bain Capital has former US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney as one of its founders. Apart from these distinguished investors, Drivezy’s last round witnessed Japanese automotive major Yamaha also participating in the funding through its Silicon Valley-based Innovation and Mobility Fund.
Though there is no official confirmation on this $60 million investment proposal, it is reported that talks are in the final stages and the announcement may come through by the end of January 2019. And it is expected to take the startup’s valuation to $400 million, a huge leap from what it was just a month back.
Drivezy has an alternate funding model in the form of Asset financing through which it is able to make purchase of the vehicles it deploys on the roads to facilitate its customers to hire and ride. It has raised $128 million through this route including $100 million last month. There was a Japanese connection there too, with AnyPay, the Japanese firm backing the asset financing operation.
As more and more Indian companies are doing, Drivezy is also planning to spread across the tier 2 and tier 3 cities and towns in the regions it is already strong in and possibly expand beyond those regions as well. From 5,400 bikes, the promoters want to take the count to 30,000 and in the case of cars, the plan is to take it to 14,000 cars. These may happen this financial year itself.
Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Manipal are the cities Drivezy is operating in right now.