Car-sharing firm Fleet in crowdfunding drive

THE Irish peer-to-peer car sharing service Fleet has launched its first investment round to fund expansion and target international growth.

The tech startup — styling itself as “Airbnb for cars” — is using the Spark Crowdfunding platform to raise €275,000, valuing it at €1.1m.

Launched in June 2017, Fleet enables local owners to hire out their cars, monetising underutilised vehicles amid what CEO and founder Maurice Sheehy described as a backdrop of change in the motoring industry and rising ownership costs.

Fleet had the potential to reshape the concept of car ownership in a similar way to household names in the sharing economy sector such as Uber and Airbnb, Sheehy said.

“We want to take access to transportation back from large companies and put it on your street, your village, your workplace,” he said.

Fifteen thousand people have created accounts on the service to date.

“We’re seeing a high proportion of repeat customers throughout the platform. Our users are happy, and over 65pc make a second transaction.”

Fleet is also targeting business-to-business uses for its software, he said. It had been approached by a major car manufacturer seeking new routes to market as vehicle sales decline.

It it is also tendering to provide a custom app for Dublin City Council, he said.