Toyota Motor Corporation and Softbank Invests in Getaround

SAN FRANCISCO— Getaround, a platform that lets users rent out their own cars using an app, has raised $300 million in a Series D financing round led by SoftBank. Also participating was Toyota Motor Corporation along with inside investors.

Getaround provides instant and keyless carsharing through its patented, integrated hardware and software platform, improving efficiency by eliminating the need for manual key exchange between renters and owners. Getaround’s patented technology has led to partnerships with Uber and Toyota.

Getaround is now available in 66 cities across the United States, with notable markets launched in the past year, including Boston, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Joseand Philadelphia—all of which are growing 3x faster than Getaround’s first market of San Francisco.

“Over the past year, we expanded to new markets, accelerated growth in existing markets and formed integrated partnerships with industry-leading automakers and mobility companies to bring Getaround to more people in more places,” said Sam Zaid, Getaround Founder and CEO. “SoftBank is the premier global investor in mobility, and has tremendous experience working with transportation brands like ours. We are confident in our product, playbook, and team—alongside the strong support from both SoftBank and previous investors, we look forward to leading the growth of next-generation carsharing.”

Getaround will use the additional capital to continue growing and expanding into new cities in North Americaand around the world. The company will also use the capital to develop mobility partnerships, launch new product offerings, create operational efficiencies, and continue innovating on its connected car technology.

“SoftBank sees carsharing as an accelerating trend that will disrupt car ownership,” said Michael Ronen, Managing Partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers. “We believe that Getaround is uniquely placed to capitalize on this by creating a marketplace that makes it easy for car owners, car renters, ride-hailing drivers, and others to transact seamlessly. Getaround was the first to successfully leverage connected car technology to create an on-demand carsharing network at scale, has proven its ability to effectively expand into new markets, and develop integrations with large mobility partners such as Uber and leading automakers such as Toyota.”

This Series D financing marks another major milestone for the company. Since announcing its Series C funding in April 2017, Getaround has seen booked hours increase by 7.5 times according to the company.

In May 2017, Getaround and Uber first built on Getaround’s platform to launch an instant booking experience for potential drivers, empowering people without cars to earn money driving with Uber. Following this success, the companies together launched “Uber Rent powered by Getaround” in April 2018, allowing people to instantly rent and access Getaround cars directly through the Uber app.