Europe’s largest peer-to-peer car rental service Drivy raises €6m to expand internationally

Drivy, a peer-to-peer car rental service that delivers the convenience of having a car without having to own one, has announced a €6 million series A round, from existing investors Index Ventures and Alven Capital. The additional funding, which brings the total amount raised to €8m, will be used for pan-European expansion, product development and to grow significantly its 20-strong team in France and across Europe.  

Following its success in France, where it has attracted 250,000 users – making Drivy not just the biggest peer-to-peer car rental marketplace in that country, but in all of Europe too – the company will now make its service available in Germany and Spain. Offices in Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium and the UK are set to follow.

The Paris-headquartered startup, founded in December 2010 by Paulin Dementhon and Nicolas Mondollot, makes it quick and easy for drivers to rent a car, as and when they need it, from car-owners whose vehicles would otherwise sit idle. With 24/7 access and a network of over 16,000 locations across France (four times as many as traditional rental locations), the service offers the freedom and flexibility of having a car, without the flipsides of ownership such as depreciation, maintenance and security.

Renting a car from a peer is not only 30% cheaper than from a traditional rental agency, but more importantly, it’s much more convenient. Thousands of locations mean there is nearly always a car nearby, users don’t have to deal with restrictive opening hours and 98% of Drivy’s customer ratings are positive indicating that people prefer to rent from their peers and neighbours than from a faceless corporation. The service is expanding at a time when car ownership in cities is increasingly being discouraged and young people are more ambivalent about owning a car than their parents’ generation.

CEO and co-founder of Drivy Paulin Dementhon said: “Driving your own car is by far the dominant mode of car transportation today. But a group of companies including Uber, Lyft, Blablacar, Autolib’, Car2go, Zipcar and Drivy have started changing that paradigm. By the end of the decade, ‘Car as a Service’ will overtake car ownership as the most convenient and widespread way to move by car.”

Martin Mignot from Index Ventures added: "Cars are simultaneously an extremely good means of transportation and an extremely poor investment. They are still by far the best way for individuals to move around freely, but they also cost a fortune to acquire and maintain, lose at lot of their value as soon as they're driven away from the showroom and then sit idle most of the time. Through its peer-to-peer rental platform, Drivy is solving that conundrum. They are not only disrupting the car rental market – which is significant in itself -- but also challenging one of the pillars of 20th century capitalism: universal car ownership. Who needs their own car when they can rent one from their neighbours?”

Jeremy Uzan, Partner at Alven Capital commented: “Drivy owes its rapid growth to the strong execution skills of the management team combined with a very clear value proposition for both car owners and clients. Similarly to what happened in the hotel and home rental industry with players like Airbnb, a significant portion of the car rental industry is rapidly shifting to peer-to-peer models with a key competitive advantage for the industry leader. Thanks to this new round of financing, Drivy has the means to accelerate its growth, rapidly expand internationally and establish itself as the undisputed leading player in his space.”

About Drivy

Drivy is the leading peer-to-peer car rental marketplace in Europe. The service lets car owners rent out their car to their neighbours, and includes specific insurance coverage to ensure safe rentals for both sides. Drivy was launched in Paris by Paulin Dementhon and Nicolas Mondollot in December 2010, and operates throughout France. 16,000 cars are shared on Drivy between 250,000 members. Drivy is available on both iOs and Android devices as well as on drivy.com.