Saracens owner makes "significant" investment into London car-sharing app

A London car-sharing app has announced that it has raised £3m funding as it aims to expand across the UK.

Karshare, which launched earlier this year, raised the funding through a pre-series A round, which was participated in by existing strategic investors Fullbrook Thorpe and Adjuvo, as well as a “significant” investment by Saracens Football Rugby Club owner Nigel Wray.

Since its launch, the company has rolled out to four cities in the UK, with this funding set to support expansion to new cities, as well as to grow its team.

Nigel Wray said: “We are delighted to be backing Andy Hibbert and his team at Karshare.

“Perhaps particularly in today’s age this is logically and environmentally the way things are going. Airbnb started somewhere - and who thought that would be what it is today!”

Andy Hibbert, Founder at Karshare, said: “The opportunity to share cars is vast. There are 33 million privately owned cars and 1.5 million registered vans in the UK. On average, these vehicles sit idle 96 percent of the time.

“For the many hours they are sat outside people’s homes on streets and driveways, they could be hired out to vetted drivers in the local area, put to good use and generate income for the owners.

“We’re in the perfect position to facilitate this – quickly, easily ,affordably and with great assurances for car owners and renters alike.

“The past 18 months has seen lives change dramatically, whether impacted financially, socially or career-wise; a vast amount of people don’t plan to return to exactly how their lives were before. And with that comes a question around car ownership and the associated costs.

“Our vision for the future is one where there are far less vehicles on our roads, and the vehicles we do have are being shared to give multiple users access for the trips they need. Essentially moving away from ownership toward usership.

“The sustainability benefits are huge. For each car shared, up to 24 can be taken off the road.

“Car sharing will play a key role in the move to net zero which will require 50 percent less cars to be on UK roads and as we transition more to EVs these benefits will continue to grow.”

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