[The F Word] Zoomcar raises $3.6 M debt fund from Trifecta

The development comes six months after the startup raised $40 million in its Series C funding round led by automobile maker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.

Self-drive car rental firm, Zoomcar has raised $3.6 million (Rs 25 crore) in debt fund from Trifecta Venture Debt Fund, recent filings with Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows.

The development comes six months after the startup raised $40 million in its Series C funding round led by automobile maker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M). Existing investors, including Ford Smart Mobility, Sequoia Capital, Empire Angels, Nokia Growth Partners and others, also participated in this round.

At that time, Zoomcar stated that the funds will be used for accelerating its marketplace supply growth, improving its IoT (Internet of Things) technology capability and for expanding across India.

In June, Zoomcar also collaborated with Mahindra Electric, a sub-division of the Mahindra Group, to offer 50 e2oPlus electric vehicles in Pune for self-driving as well as renting.

For the year ended March 2017, Zoomcar reported a loss of Rs 100.4 crore, compared to Rs 101.4 crore of loss in FY16. Its total revenue grew by 35 percent to Rs 121.2 crore in FY17 from Rs 89.8 crore in FY16. Media reports state that Zoomcar has a customer base of more than two million.

“We are already profitable in most cities, and this gives us net margins well over 50 percent. On a corporate level, we are not profitable yet, mainly because we are investing heavily in engineering, which, we believe, positions us very well in the long term. We are going to continue to invest because we know that this will reap huge benefits when it comes to customers,” said Greg Moran co-founder of Zoomcar in an earlier interview with YourStory.

The firm had started tweaking its business model by shifting to a marketplace model last year and said that it would sell all vehicles in its fleet over time. In October 2017, Zoomcar also introduced a new bike-sharing service named PEDL, which currently operates across 10 cities.