Peer-to-peer vehicle-sharing platform, Ejaro, has raised $850,000 in seed funding. The investment came from angel investors and BIM Ventures.
Mohammed Khashoggi founded Ejaro in 2019. The Saudi platform connects is local vehicle owners with individuals looking to rent cars and other vehicles. According to Khashoggi, the startup aims to tap into the regional car rental market, valued at over $4 billion, adding that the market is set to experience a large potential growth in the post-Covid19 economy. The car owners make extra money from a car that they may not be using full-time, while renters enjoy the vehicles on the platform which are up to 40 percent cheaper than traditional car rental companies. Renters can search for vehicles by area to find the ones nearby.
All cars on Ejaro have been insured. To further incite owners and renters, the starup has introduced its own peer-to-peer vehicle insurance policy in partnership with Kingdom Brokerage and MedGulf; that is available for both hosts and renters.
Khashoggi said in a statement: “With millions out of jobs and rental companies struggling, our platform empowers owners to earn an additional income from their depreciating assets and share them with the masses. I truly believe that Ejaro will accelerate in the coming weeks.”
Mohamed Amine Merah, Ejaro’s Finance & Strategy Partner and Managing Partner of BIM Ventures, said, “During the downtime [due to Covid-19], we were able to develop and launch a new and improved app, build strategic partnerships, and solidified our internal processes.”
He also said that the startup is planning to expand regionally, starting with UAE in 2021.
The new funds will be used to accelerate the development of additional features on the platform, in order to increase the hosted cars and renters’ bases and to expand the team.
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