Drivezy bets on the US market, to expand to 10 American cities in a year

Bengaluru-based vehicle sharing marketplace Drivezy on Tuesday said it is planning to expand its services in about 10 cities in the US, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle, over the next 12 months.

Drivezy, which counts names like Das Capital, Yamaha Motor Co Ltd, and Axan Partners, among its investors, had started pilot in San Francisco earlier this year and currently has a fleet of 100 cars in the city.

"The vehicles in the US have been listed through the peer-to-peer channel. We received a strong response and we are now expanding our services to 10 cities in the US with a fleet of 1,000 cars by next year," Drivezy Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Ashwarya Singh told PTI.

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He added that the cities being considered include San Diego, Dallas, Las Vegas, Houston, and others.

"We are also looking at South America. For that market, we are looking at collaborating with a local partner and we are hopeful of that happening in the next one or two months," he said.

Singh said that over the next two years, international markets, such as the US, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, are expected to account for about 20 percent of the company's revenues, with India continuing to account for a lion's share of the business.

Founded in 2015 by Ashwarya Singh, Abhishek Mahajan, Hemant Sah, Vasant Verma, and Amit Sahu, Drivezy (formerly JustRide) operates peer-to-peer vehicle sharing network with over 2,000 owners as its partners. In November last year, the company had announced raising $20 million in funding and securing an additional $100 million in an asset financing deal. The round was led by existing investor Das Capital. Other investors who participated in the round include Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd., Axan Partners and IT-Farm. 

At the end of June 2019, it had over 2,700 cars and close to 17,000 bikes listed on its platform.

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)

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