Hot on the heels of an acquisition by Avis announced earlier this week, Zipcar will be piloting a no-fee membership option beginning today in Toronto and Vancouver. The new ‘Access Plan’ pilot project carries no annual driving fee, like its existing ‘Extra Value’ membership plan, but doesn’t require the Extra Value plan’s minimum of $50 in driving per month. As a trade-off, it also offers the same… → Read More
Earlier today the sharing economy startup world was abruptly awoken from its holiday slumber with the news that car rental giant Avis would buy car-sharing company Zipcar for $500 million. No sooner had the news gotten out, though, that some shareholders in Zipcar have cried foul. The securities litigation firm of Powers Taylor, along with Willie Briscoe, the ex-U.S. SEC attorney, today announced… → Read More
At the CTIA MobileCon keynote today, Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith took the stage to talk about the effect mobile technology is having on transportation. In the course of his talk, he also detailed the way that Zipcar has shifted from being a web-based business to being an overwhelmingly mobile concern, and what new changes were on the way for its app and mobile services. → Read More
Zipcar is seeing increased competition in the car-sharing market, which is one reason that it might not be growing as quickly as it, or analysts, like. Zipcar reported second-quarter loss of $422,000 today, or $0.01 a share, compared to a net loss of $5.6 million, or $0.17 a share, in the prior year’s second quarter. The earnings came on revenues of $70.8 million, which is up 15 percent from $61.6… → Read More
You need a ride, someone else has a car and could use the cash, SideCar is the app that will bring you together. New instant peer-to-peer rideshare-finding app SideCar turns anyone into a taxi / Uber driver, and it’s supposedly legal because you technically volunteer to pay at the end. Today it emerges from beta for iOS and Android in its first city, San Francisco.
Punch in your location and… → Read More
Well, you have to hand it to the strategy team over at Zipcar. Arguably the largest on-demand car-sharing network, Zipcar went public last year and not long after saw its market cap cross $1 billion. It’s since fallen back, and with collaborative consumption and the market for car-sharing heating up, the big players have to make moves. Zipcar has since forged a partnership with Ford, making it the… → Read More
Car sharing network operator Zipcar this morning announced the exercise of its option to purchase a majority ownership interest in Barcelona-based Catalunya Carsharing, better known as Avancar, after investing in the company almost exactly two years ago.
In fact, the option had been extended for an extra year after Zipcar decided last year it wouldn’t yet exercise it, opting instead to give… → Read More
Car sharing network operator Zipcar this morning announced the exercise of its option to purchase a majority ownership interest in Barcelona-based Catalunya Carsharing, better known as Avancar, after investing in the company almost exactly two years ago.
In fact, the option had been extended for an extra year after Zipcar decided last year it wouldn’t yet exercise it, opting instead to give… → Read More
Car sharing network company Zipcar this morning announced the release of a Facebook application that allows its members to ‘reserve their wheels’ on the popular social networking site without having to leave it.
The Nasdaq-listed car-sharing company warns that the app is being tested in public beta for now. Aside from booking a vehicle, members can also use the app to check car availability… → Read More
Ford Motor Company and the leading car-sharing network Zipcar have just announced a partnership that establishes Ford as Zipcar’s largest auto source for Zipcar’s University program. The new, two-year alliance will reach students at over 250 university campuses here in the U.S.
Ford will start shipping its vehicles, primarily the 2012 Ford Focus and Ford Escape, to colleges starting this week. → Read More
Carsharing service ZipCar began the morning of its IPO trading at $18 a share and is now up to $27.96, a rise of over 50%. Based on its 38.6M total shares this means that it is now a billion dollar company (Congrats ZipCar!). Zipcar has raised $174 million in its IPO , surpassing its original target of $75 million.
The Massachusetts-based ZipCar provides it over 560,000 members with self-service… → Read More
Zipcar, a membership-based car-sharing service that enables members to reserve a car via the Web, phone or an iPhone app, this morning announced the addition of former eBay CEO Meg Whitman to its board of directors. She will be replacing long-time Zipcar investor and board member Jim Gerson, who is giving up his seat.
Whitman led eBay from 1998 to 2008. After her tenure, she ran for Governor of… → Read More
Car-sharing service company Zipcar this morning announced that it has raised $21 million in Series G funding. Meritech Capital Partners led the round with a $20 million investment, while Pinnacle Ventures contributed the additional $1 million.
Zipcar didn’t detail what it plans to do with the fresh capital, other than to say it intends to use the proceeds to fund working capital needs and finance… → Read More
Editor’s note: This post is the second part of an analysis of different consumer Internet business models by guest author Steven Carpenter. It is suggested that you first read Part I.
Most consumer Internet startups fall into a baker’s dozen of possible business models. In the first part of this post, I tried to lay out the three main buckets those business models fall into (media, paid service… → Read More
After a better-than-expected pop on the first day of its IPO, Tesla’s stock (under the ticker symbol TSLA) started to slide a few days after. It is now hanging 7 percent below its initial pricing of $17, closing at $15.80 per share today.
Only a week on the market, Tesla’s stock has fluctuated greatly, trading at a high of $30.42 and dropping to a low of $14.98. While some hoped Tesla would… → Read More
Technology-driven car sharing and rental service provider Zipcar this morning announced that it has filed an S-1 with the SEC relating to a proposed IPO of shares of its common stock.
The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined, but the filing reveals a target of $75 million. → Read More
Car sharing service company Zipcar today announced that it has acquired Streetcar, a similar venture that operates in the UK out of London. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the Wall Street Journal says the deal is valued at $50 million.
The two companies will now be folded into one entity and soon operate solely under the Zipcar flag. → Read More
Sometimes even a do-gooder company flubs something badly enough that it deserves to take some crap. So I give that honor to Zipcar, which over the past few months brilliantly and boldly promoted its iPhone app even though, for all practical purposes, it didn’t exist.
The story begins with a giant coup: Zipcar won an invite to show off its App at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in San… → Read More
Zipcar is running a promotion (unfortunately, they’re no longer accepting applications) called the Low-Car Diet that basically entails giving up your car for a month. In return, participants get free public transportation passes, a free Zipcar membership and driving credit, and other various perks. If you live in a populated area and you don’t own a car, I’d recommend the service. You… → Read More
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