The French start-up of on-demand car services Virtuo raises 78.5 million euros; aims to electrify 100% of its fleet by 2030

Virtuo’s mission is to provide the best car rental experience that makes owning a car unnecessary, freeing you and cities from the burden of owning a car. Including the current round, the company has raised a total of $ 100 million in funding since its inception.

New generation car rental

Founded in 2016 by Karim Kaddoura and Thibault Chassagne, Virtuo’s goal is to reinvent car rental via their mobile application by allowing users to unlock and start their Virtuo rental car without paperwork, rental counters and no queues. waiting.

With its on-demand car service, Virtuo wants to give back all the freedoms of the car to city dwellers without weighing down cities and the planet. Virtuo is available both with a general public offer and with its Virtuo for Business service, where companies benefit from exclusive advantages for companies.

As of May 2021, Virtuo has been operating in four countries, including France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. In addition, it is also present in 18 major European cities, including Paris, London, Manchester, Barcelona and Madrid.

Shifting up a gear towards sustainable mobility

Virtuo says its goal is to revolutionize the car rental industry by delivering a 100% digital app experience to its new generation of drivers who are city dwellers from major European cities in its regions of France, UK and Spain.

Karim Kaddoura and Thibault Chassagne, co-founders of Virtuo, declare: “Our ambition for Virtuo and our on-demand car service is to reinvent our relationship with the automobile. Provide all the benefits that cars can offer while using technology to remove the physical burden. We believe you should be able to access a car the same way you stream music or movies – the car should appear on demand when you need it, but disappear from view when you don’t.

And to realize this ambition, the company has launched its new delivery service, Virtuo Delivered, where users can have their Virtuo car delivered and collected at any chosen address. The service has already been deployed in London and recently launched in Paris and Madrid.

How will the funds be used?

Proceeds from this round will help Virtuo advance its technology and launch new services that will position its on-demand car service as a key alternative to car ownership. In addition to the development of its application, the funds will also allow the company to accelerate its European expansion and the electrification of the fleet.

The funding comes from the selection of Virtuo under the French Tech 120 program, a development program designed to support the best French scale-ups likely to become global giants.

International expansion & electrification

Virtuo reports that the current round capital will give them the opportunity to step up its presence in Europe – the company will expand its service to Milan this month and launch in Germany by 2022 to cover a dozen markets by now 2025.

In addition to this, the company is also looking to accelerate the electrification of its fleet. Virtuo aims to electrify 50% of its fleet by 2025 and 100% by 2030. The company also indicated that it had offset 100% of its carbon footprint since January 1, 2021, contributing to clean local energy and certified projects in Europe.

Virtuo has already partnered with Hyundai in France and integrated Kona Electric into its fleet as part of its revenue-sharing business model. This funding round will allow Virtuo to focus on a new objective: to conquer one million active customers across Europe by 2025.