Whitecar, a UK-based electric vehicle car rental company, has secured funding of GBP1.29 million and is now focusing on European expansion to add to its existing outlets at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Edinburgh airports.
Having launched in 2016, Whitecar has the largest fleet of white Tesla vehicles available to hire across the UK and has disrupted the car rental market by focusing on simplicity, ease and transparency.
Whitecar has simplified the sector by offering one make of car, in one colour, and most importantly, at one all-inclusive price. There is no additional charge for insurance or extra drivers, making booking quick and hassle free, while customers also benefit from no fuel costs as charging is available for free across Europe.
In their bid to create the best car rental experience, Whitecar delivers vehicles to customers’ pick-up point with a full charge and collects when the rental is over. Customers can choose from the saloon Tesla Model S 90D which seats five adults or the Model X 90D which seats up to seven people.
With no paperwork or keys, operations will soon be powered by wholly owned Whitecar smartphone technology which will streamline the customer experience even further.
Whitecar founder Mark Strachan, says, “The car rental market in the UK and Europe is often cumbersome, confusing and lacks innovation. Our success over the last year and half has shown the huge potential and this investment will allow us to expand our rental model of ‘one car, one colour and one price’ across European airports and become the undisputed market leader in electric vehicle rental by 2022.”
The GBP1.29 million of fresh equity capital was raised at a pre-money valuation of GBP5.85 million from two sources: GBP893,000 from a successful Crowdcube campaign, which was 137 per cent overfunded, and GBP400,000 from Regency Mines PLC, a company quoted on AIM at the London Stock Exchange.
Regency Mines invested GBP200,000 at the end of December 2017 and will invest a further GBP200,000 in February 2018. Regency Mines has an option to invest an additional GBP250,000 at a 50 per cent premium by October 2018. Whitecar is delighted to welcome Scott Kaintz, COO of Regency Mines, to the Whitecar board.
Through Whitecar Share, the company also rents out Tesla cars belonging to private owners, allowing them to generate extra revenue when their cars are not in use. The company also runs Whitecar Valet, which looks after owners’ Teslas who are travelling from Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh and Manchester.
