Zoomcar’s new product launch focused on the business-to-business (B2B) segment comes at a time when mobility startups have been struggling to make money since the demand for public commute and vehicle rentals have reduced by at least 50% in the last few months. Due to the fall in demand, vehicle-sharing startups such as Bounce, VOGO, and Drivezy have been hiving of vehicle assets to recover salvage value. Yulu which offers electric vehicles (EVs) on rent has also turned its focus on long-term bike rentals as most mobility users now prefer their own vehicles over shared vehicles.
With the launch of ZMS, Zoomcar aims to provide its own proprietary tech stack to help fleet owners to reduce operating costs, enhance safety, increasing vehicle monetization and improving customer engagement.
ZMS comprises two primary software offerings, including an IoT device as a product combined with subscription as a service. The ZMS platform solution is geography agnostic and will help drive Zoomcar’s international footprint while serving customers across 3 continents within the next year, according to a company statement.
One of the key features of ZMS is its proprietary driver scoring mechanism, an automated algorithm with that tracks the real-time driving behavior of the customer along with the health of the vehicle. The driver score also provides live recommendations in real-time to help improve driving quality. ZMS rates drivers on a scale of 0-100 and which is calculated in real-time.
The vehicle rental firm said real-time scores and alerts help improve driver behavior and reduce accidents while also lowering maintenance and fuel bills. At an aggregate level, ZMS has observed monthly operating cost savings of 25-30% using the driver scoring system. Zoomcar expects to onboard at least 50 partners in more than 10 countries within the next year across the two-wheeler, three-wheeler & heavy commercial vehicle (cargo and passenger) segments.
“The mobility industry is going through a transformational phase globally due to the pandemic… With ZMS, Zoomcar introduces a one-stop shop mobility offering for OEMs and operators alike to help dramatically reduce operating cost while meaningfully increasing monetization opportunities at both the vehicle and customer levels,” Greg Moran, chief executive, Zoomcar said in a statement.
Zoomcar is backed by prominent investors such as Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M), Ford Smart Mobility, Sequoia Capital, and debt investors such as InnoVen Capital and Trifecta Capital. To date, Zoomcar has raised around $150 million, and its last fundraise was in January 2020, when it secured $30 million led by Sony Innovation Fund, and other existing investors.
The article was first published on livemint.com