Today, P2P car rental platform "Aotu Car Rental" announced the completion of its Series C+ financing, invested by Shanghai Guohe Modern Service Industry Equity Investment Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Shanghai International Group. It is reported that this round of financing will be mainly used for product and service upgrading as well as urban expansion.
Founded in 2014, Aotu Car Rental enables private car owners to earn an additional monthly income of over 3,000 yuan by sharing their idle vehicles, while renters can rent cars at a price 30% to 50% lower than that of traditional car rental services. In May 2014, the month it was launched, Aotu Car Rental obtained a ten-million-yuan angel round of investment led by Ceyuan Ventures and followed by ZhenFund. In October 2014, it completed a ten-million-US-dollar Series A financing led by Matrix Partners China and followed by Ceyuan Ventures. In November 2015, it received a 300-million-yuan Series B financing from China Pacific Insurance, CSC Financial Co., Ltd., Ivy Capital, Hearst Ventures, Matrix Partners China and Ceyuan Ventures. In June 2016, it secured a over-100-million-yuan Series B+ financing from Pandasia Capital, JD Finance, Binfu Capital and other investors. In February 2017, it completed a nearly 400-million-yuan Series C financing, with investors including China Pacific Insurance, Xinzhongli Capital, Hangzhou Financial Investment Group, CSC Financial Co., Ltd., Matrix Partners China, Hearst Ventures and Everbright Ivy Capital.
At present, Aotu Car Rental's business covers 40 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing and Hangzhou, with over 5 million registered users, more than 300,000 registered vehicles and 10,000 types of car models. China Pacific Insurance provides Aotu Car Rental with a 2.05-million-yuan insurance policy tailored to the shared car rental model to protect the interests of car owners and renters.
Last year, Aotu Car Rental also launched the "accident replacement car" service in collaboration with China Pacific Insurance. Specifically, when China Pacific Insurance's customers encounter a car accident, they will be recommended to use the accident replacement cars provided by Aotu Car Rental on a priority basis. In addition, China Pacific Insurance will encourage its insured car owners to switch to become Aotu's car owners.
Chen Weiyu, CEO of Aotu Car Rental, told 36kr that according to the platform's user survey data, more than 70% of respondents have never used an accident replacement car due to limited car model options and high prices. When their own cars are being repaired after an accident, taxis, ride-hailing services and car rentals have become the mainstream alternative transportation methods. Among the respondents who have used accident replacement cars, over 70% chose to do so to meet their travel needs during the repair period of their own cars, and 33% opted for it because they could use the service for free or at a relatively low cost. When choosing car insurance products, the top three factors that respondents value most are the insurance company's reputation, the number of service outlets and the price. As for the acceptable price of accident replacement car services, 84% of respondents believe it should be within 200 yuan.
Shanghai International Group is a municipal state-owned sole proprietorship enterprise, with business areas including capital operation, investment management and financial factor markets. It has over 30 years of experience in state-owned capital investment and operation, comprehensive financial services and investment and financing management of major projects. Its invested enterprises cover local key financial enterprises, asset management institutions and industrial investment funds, including Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Shanghai Trust, Guotai Junan Securities, Shanghai Securities, Shanghai International Asset Management Co., Ltd. and Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd.
Guohe Investment was jointly established in 2009 by Shanghai International Group, Pudong Lujiazui Group and Allinpay. It manages a number of funds, with a cumulative fund management scale of over 10 billion yuan. The types of funds it manages include: flagship funds for equity investment in the service industry, thematic equity investment funds, real estate funds, M&A and private placement funds, mezzanine funds and fixed-income funds. The first-phase service industry fund of Guohe has invested in the primary and primary-secondary market equity investment fields covering financial services, medical and health care, corporate services, cultural media and consumption upgrading. Its invested cases include Guotai Junan Securities, Industrial Bank, Allinpay, Deppon Logistics, Happy Blue Ocean, BGI Genomics, Yunnan Innovation and Cheerful Math Technology.
