Peer-to-peer vehicle sharing platform Ejaro raises $850K in Seed funding
KSA-based Ejaro, the peer-to-peer vehicle sharing platform, has announced the closing of an $850K (3.2M Saudi riyal) Seed funding round, led by Saudi Arabia-based angel investors and supported by BIM Ventures - a venture studio in the country.
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Founded in 2019, Ejaro enables car owners to make money from their depreciating assets while providing those in need of a car with affordable access to one. The platform was first launched as a co-sponsor of the Riyadh Season- an entertainment and tourism event in Saudi Arabia. This opportunity was used to test the platform with early adopters to validate the model and gather feedback directly from the end-users.
Ejaro's main focus from day one was to build a trustworthy community where both hosts and renters felt safe using the platform and sharing their vehicles. The startup also launched a peer-to-peer vehicle sharing insurance policy, created in partnership with Kingdom Brokerage and MedGulf.
Mohammed Khashoggi, Founder and CEO commented, “We are very thrilled about this milestone for Ejaro, which comes in time with the launch of our new and improved application and the finalizing of the new license requirements for peer-to-peer vehicle sharing from the Saudi Transport General Authority.
“We predict large potential growth in the post-COVID economy, capitalizing on the regional car rental market size of over $4B. With millions out of jobs and rental companies struggling, our platform empowers owners to earn an additional source of income through their depreciating assets and share it with the masses, I truly believe that Ejaro will boom in the coming weeks."
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Mohamed Amine Merah, Ejaro’s Finance & Strategy Partner and Managing Partner of BIM Ventures said, “We are proud that Ejaro, with its dynamic leadership and team, was able to come out of the COVID-19 crisis with a success story. During the downtime, we were able to develop and launch a new and improved app, build strategic partnerships, and solidified our internal processes. We are also looking forward to announcing our geographical expansion plans locally and internationally, starting with strategic partnerships in the UAE in 2021.”
Mahmoud El Madhoun, CEO of Kingdom Brokerage and one of Ejaro’s first angel investors added, “We are currently working on a secret project that will disrupt the insurance market in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region; it has been in the works for many months, but we are finally at the finish line."
The funds will be used to accelerate the development of additional features on the platform, to increase the hosted cars and renters’ bases, and to expand the teams capacity.
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