Kyte

The company's core business revolves around delivering sanitized rental cars directly to a customer's chosen location, eliminating the need to visit a rental counter. Through its mobile app or website, clients can book a vehicle for various durations, from a single day to several months. When the rental period is over, an employee, known as a "Kyte Surfer," retrieves the car from the customer. This model targets a B2C market of urban dwellers and travelers who need temporary access to a car without the lines, paperwork, and fixed locations of legacy rental agencies. Initially, Kyte partnered with professional fleet management companies, but later transitioned to owning its fleet to ensure service quality. Revenue is generated through daily rental rates and longer-term subscription plans, with pricing based on car type, rental length, and location.

Kyte's service is differentiated by its convenience, with features like real-time delivery tracking via the app, flexible drop-off and pickup scheduling, and the option for self-pickup at a Kyte lot for a discounted rate. Since its soft launch in San Francisco in May 2019, the company has undergone significant expansion, operating in over 14 U.S. cities at its peak. Kyte has secured substantial funding across multiple rounds, including a $30 million Series A in 2021 and a $60 million Series B in 2022, totaling approximately $300 million in equity and debt. This capital has been aimed at fleet growth, particularly in electric vehicles, and technological development with a long-term vision of operating shared, electrified, and autonomous fleets. Recently, the company has strategically reduced its market presence to focus on achieving profitability in its strongest markets, San Francisco and New York City.