Autofleet raises $7.5m for its VaaS solutions

Israeli based Vehicle as a Service (VaaS) startup Autofleet announced that it has successfully raised $7.5 million in a combination of seed funding and from a Series A funding round. The round was led by MizMaa Ventures and had participation from Maniv Mobility, Next Gear Ventures, and Liil Ventures.

The VaaS startup explained that the capital injection will be used to help Autofleet continue its expansion to more international markets and add more members to its growing team.

Kobi Eisenberg, CEO, Autofleet commented on what its company mission is by saying: “Autofleet’s mission is to provide fleet owners with the tools to realise the full potential of fleets with significant resources, as part of their transition to become the mobility service providers of the future. To accelerate our mission on a global scale, nothing would have enthused us more than joining forces with investors who share this vision and display a unique interest and expertise in the mobility sector.”

Autofleet’s platform provides what it explains as an ‘elastic supply of vehicles to any source of demand’ while providing a potential solution for on-demand service of vehicles and optimising a business’s vehicle fleets operations with the aim to reduce vehicle downtime, reduce costs, and increase control through automation.

The VaaS startup explained that it has already established partnerships with international car fleets and car manufacturers such as Avis Budget Group, Zipcar, Keolis, and Suzuki.

Due to COVID-19 asset-heavy businesses like rental car companies have seen their businesses come to a halt. However, this has not stopped Autofleet from securing funding to invest in its platform to bring new opportunities for its customers.

The VaaS startup joins a number of other companies that have successfully raised capital during the height of the pandemic with the AI-powered freight dispatcher SmartHop raising $4.5m for its tech-enabled dispatch solution.

Autofleet claims that its platform is now being used to help companies shift fleets to meet today’s demand for logistics and medical transportation. The VaaS startup explains that it has also started selling its platform and its capabilities to companies looking to leverage their vehicle assets to be used in delivery services.

According to Allied Market Research, the global fleet management sector is expected to reach upwards of $34 billion by 2022 making it a great time for Autofleet to increase its market share efforts. Although it’s still unknown how much COVID-19 will affect those estimated figures.

Aaron Applbaum, General Partner, MizMaa Ventures gave reasoning to their investment by saying: “At MizMaa, we were very impressed with the Autofleet team and what it is putting in place to optimise and manage fleets for new mobility services,”.

The VaaS startup wrote that its current biggest markets are in the US and the U.K., and this fresh funding is expected to bolster their presence in these territories while building on the growth the company claims to be witnessing elsewhere such as Latin America and the Asia-Pacific regions.

The fleet management segment has a roster of competition for Autofleet with well-financed startups such as Fleetonomy who are similar to Autofleet as their platform lets customers simulate trips to get the optimum trips for their fleet with the goal to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Applebaum added: “Each player in the new mobility value chain is faced with an imbalance between vehicle availability and market demand. With the VaaS layer from Autofleet, the stock becomes elastic, making these new business models sustainable.”