Cathay, Nokia Growth in €31m series-C for Drivy

Alice Tchernookova
28 April 2016

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European car rental service Drivy has raised €31m in a series-C round led by Cathay Innovation and Nokia Growth Partners (NGP).

Other participants in the round included early investors BPI France, Via-ID (part of the Mobivia group) and Index Ventures.

The additional funding, which brings the total amount raised by Drivy to €47m, will be used for further international expansion, product innovation and team expansion across the group's different branches in Europe.

The company plans to expand into new markets, with three openings planned in European countries by the end of 2016, including the UK. Priority will be given to the deployment of the Drivy Open service in several European cities in the coming months.

Since its last financing round in April 2015, Drivy has significantly expanded, having for instance experienced 200% growth for its Spanish branch over the last two months.

Previous funding
In April 2015, Drivy secured €16m from BPI's Ecotechnologie Fund, Via-ID and existing investors Index and Alven Capital to acquire competitor Buzzcar.

The €16m investment included €8m earmarked specifically for international expansion.

The deal was the third funding round for Drivy. Previously, Index and Alven injected €6m into the business to support its growth across the European market, and prior to that, Drivy received €2m during a first funding round.

Company
Drivy is a European peer-to-peer car rental service with 850,000 users across France, Germany and Spain.

Created in France in 2010 by Paulin Dementhon, it claims to have witnessed a year-on-year growth of more than 100%.

The service gives drivers the possibility to rent a car from nearby car owners. It currently has a network of 36,000 cars to rent. In December 2015, Drivy launched Drivy Open, a technology enabling drivers to open cars with their smartphones and carry out self-service rentals.

People
Nokia Growth Partners – Bo Ilsoe (partner).
Cathay Capital – Ming-Po Cai (president); Jacky Abitbol (partner).