Koolicar

Koolicar was a French company that operated in the peer-to-peer car sharing market. It was founded in 2011 by Stéphane Savouré and Alexandre Bol. The idea for the company originated with Savouré in 2005, inspired by the Vélib' bike-sharing system in Lyon. He envisioned a similar service for cars, utilizing the existing vehicle fleet to reduce urban congestion and help car owners offset their expenses. Savouré, who previously served as VP of Project Operations at Alstom Transport, launched the company after identifying a gap in the market, particularly noting the regulatory advantages in Europe for insuring shared vehicles compared to North America.

The company provided a platform for individuals to rent out their personal vehicles. Koolicar's business model revolved around taking a 30% commission on the rental profits, with the remaining 70% going to the car owner. The service stood out by installing a proprietary device, the "KoolBox," into each vehicle. This technology enabled keyless entry via a membership card, GPS tracking for vehicle location at the start and end of a rental, and automatic calculation of mileage. This eliminated the need for renters and owners to meet for a key exchange, facilitating short-term, hourly rentals. The company targeted private individuals as both car owners and renters.

Throughout its operation, Koolicar secured significant financial backing. The company's historic partner was the French insurance group MAIF, which invested in the startup as early as 2014. A major milestone occurred in 2016 when Koolicar raised €18 million in a funding round that included PSA Peugeot Citroën, which became a shareholder alongside MAIF. This investment was aimed at expanding the fleet to 30,000 cars and growing the team. By 2018, the service had 400,000 members. However, the company ceased its peer-to-peer rental operations at the end of 2018 due to financial reasons, after having raised a total of $23.6 million. The founders chose to pivot and focus on their B2B entity, OpenFleet, which was launched in 2015 to provide fleet management solutions. In 2019, the Koolicar brand and its technical platform were acquired by Vortex Mobilité, a company specializing in transporting people with disabilities, which planned to relaunch the service.

Keywords: peer-to-peer car sharing, P2P car rental, Koolicar, Stéphane Savouré, shared mobility, collaborative economy, car rental platform, KoolBox, keyless car rental, MAIF, PSA Peugeot Citroën, OpenFleet, Vortex Mobilité, vehicle sharing, automotive technology, fleet management, mobility services, France, carsharing aggregator, deadpooled, startup history