Renting vehicles
Kitchener-based Kuso wants to be Airbnb for cars
KITCHENER — More than 40 people have registered their vehicles with a car rental platform called Kuso launched last month by a local software developer.
“We are trying to be the Airbnb for vehicles,” said Osman Said-Ahmed, founder of Kuso Inc. “It is going well.”
Anyone who owns a vehicle can register on the platform for free. The owners and vehicles are screened. The vehicle owners set the rates, which currently range from $24.99 to $249 a day.
“We approve every vehicle to make sure it is safe to be on the road, has all the proper insurance, all the proper documentation,” said Said-Ahmed. “We have had about 80 people sign up to our platform to rent vehicles.”
Renters can register via email, Facebook or the Kuso website. They must provide a copy of a driver’s licence and other pieces of government-issued identification. The information is verified before someone is cleared to become an approved renter on Kuso.
Owners may drive the cars to the renters, or have the renters come to where the car is parked. Special arrangements to bring a vehicle to renters at a restaurant, sporting event or airport can also be negotiated with the owners.
Kuso recommends a quick walk-around of the vehicle before the keys are handed over, and another fast inspection when it is returned. Renters fill the tank to where it was at the start of their trip. The owner rates the renter on the platform.
“The kicker for Kuso is basically you are in charge of your pricing, you are in charge of your schedule, you are in charge of everything,” said Said-Ahmed. “You are almost your own car agency.”
He notes that vehicles often are the secondbiggest expense for an individual after housing. Privately owned vehicles are parked most of the time. Kuso was designed to help owners pay for their cars, and for non-owners to have convenient and inexpensive access to rental cars.
It is all about sharing access to a virtual fleet of rental cars, said Said-Ahmed.
So far, people using Kuso are in Kitchener and Waterloo. But the startup has had requests from Oakville and New York.
“We are fully launched. However, we want to learn from the experience in our community before we expand,” said Said-Ahmed, who has registered his own BMW on Kuso.
Kuso arranged enhanced, commercial insurance for car owners registering on the platform. The cost ranges from $99 to $399 a year, said Said-Ahmed, but car owners can also negotiate their own insurance coverage if they choose.
This is Said-Ahmed’s second foray into the sharing economy. In 2016, he launched a mobile app called Woggy that connects dog owners with dog walkers. Woggy is going well, he said.
Up next is something he calls CabME, which he said will compete directly with Uber. Said-Ahmed said his ride-hailing app will pay drivers more and there will be no administration fees.
“The hub I’m creating will cater to all sectors of the shared economy, which will allow all the customers to go to one hub and find all the services they need,” said Said-Ahmed.