PSA Peugeot Citroën joins Koolicar‘s capital for €18M, along with MAIF, historical partner of the car-sharing startup since 2010.
Koolicar launched its service in 2012, present in 40 French agglomerations with already more than 60,000 registered users. The most valuable asset of the startup is undoubtedly the connected device they use in every car, which calculates the mileage, geolocates the vehicle, and most importantly avoids the exchange of keys between users, a feature allowing a lot of flexibility for the service. The competing assurance and customer service supported by MAIF is a huge advantage for the company as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH6lBkwWTL4
This increase in capital brought by two great French groups will allow the company to accelerate its strategy with the necessary funds to equip up to 30,000 cars, grow its workforce from 30 to 100 employees in Paris and Montreal, and become a global player in the car-sharing industry and try to overtake competitors such as Drivy or Communauto.
PSA Peugeot Citroën estimates that the number of car-sharing users will quadruple in the top five European countries by 2020, which echoes with the emergence of sharing economy during the last few years, especially in France. The French car manufacturer confirms its desire to get a role in the mobility services industry after its Multicity Project in Berlin or the partnership with Bollore to produce the Blue Summer, a new type of electric Cabrio for Autolib.