Drover (company)

Last updated
Drover
Company type Privately held company
IndustryAutomotive Industry
Founded2015
Founder
  • Felix Leuschner
  • Matt Varughese
DefunctJune 22, 2022;2 years ago (2022-06-22)
Headquarters
London
,
UK
ServicesCar Subscriptions
Number of employees
120
Website www.joindrover.com

Drover was a British company providing vehicle subscriptions.

Contents

Users paid a recurring fee for the right to use a car with insurance, maintenance, tax, MOT and breakdown coverage, and could swap vehicles during the subscription or to cancel their subscriptions outright.[ citation needed ]

History

Drover was founded in late 2015 by Felix Leuschner, previously CEO of a fashion platform Sylistpick and virtual goods market Gamegoods, [1] and Matt Varughese. They had observed that most of the innovation in the mobility space had been focused on how to get from A to B but that very little had been done around car ownership itself. [2]

In March 2018, Drover received funding of £5.5m from investors including BP Ventures, Partech Ventures and Cherry Ventures. This was on top of a £2m pre-seed investment. [3]

In April 2018, Drover partnered with BMW Group to provide BMW and Mini vehicles on the platform. [4] [5]

In December 2020, Drover announced that they were being acquired by Cazoo. [6]

In June 2022, Cazoo announced the closure of their 'cash intensive' car subscription services as part of a cost cutting plan. [7]

Service

Drover did not own any cars, but provided a marketplace for vehicle subscriptions. [8] [9] Users pay a monthly fee for a car, including insurance, breakdown cover, maintenance tax and MOT. There are no long term commitments so users can swap, upgrade, downgrade or cancel their subscriptions. [10] Felix Leuschner, CEO, claims that by providing a more seamless, online and all-inclusive experience, Drover will be able to improve the typical car purchasing experience. [11] [12]

In 2018, some industry experts had predicted that the rise of autonomous vehicles will see traditional finance methods superseded by subscription services. [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW</span> German automotive manufacturer

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, commonly abbreviated to BMW, is a German multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The company was founded in 1916 as a manufacturer of aircraft engines, which it produced from 1917 to 1918 and again from 1933 to 1945 creating engines for aircraft that were used in the Second World War.

V Cars. LLC, called Visionary Vehicles prior to mid-2008, was an international automobile import and distribution company, founded by Malcolm Bricklin and engaging in the development and sale of Chinese-made motor vehicles in North America. The company closed down prior to ever importing any cars to North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Motor Show Germany</span> Annual German motor show

The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung, is one of the world's largest mobility trade fairs. It consists of two separate fairs, that subdivided in 1991. While the IAA Mobility displays passenger vehicles, motorcycles and bikes, the IAA Transportation specializes in commercial vehicles. Before the separation, the show was held solely at the Messe Frankfurt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mini (marque)</span> British automotive brand

Mini is a British automotive brand founded in Oxford in 1969, owned by German Multinational automotive company BMW since 2000, and used by them for a range of small cars assembled in the United Kingdom, Austria, Netherlands and Germany. The word Mini has been used in car model names since 1959, and in 1969 it became a brand in its own right when the name "Mini" replaced the separate "Austin Mini" and "Morris Mini" car model names. BMW acquired the brand in 1994 when it bought Rover Group, which owned Mini, among other brands.

Constellation Automotive Group is a used vehicle marketplace. It was founded in the United Kingdom in 1946, as Southern Counties Car Auctions, and was a publicly traded company, BCA Marketplace, when acquired and taken private by TDR Capital in November 2019. TDR rebranded it to the current name in October 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW India</span> Indian operation of BMW

BMW India is the Indian subsidiary of German car manufacturer BMW. It started operations in January 2007 with a wide range of its activities, including a manufacturing plant in Chennai, a parts warehouse in Mumbai, a training centre in Gurgaon NCR, and development the of a dealer organisation across major metropolitan centres of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW X2</span> Motor vehicle

The BMW X2 is a subcompact luxury crossover SUV produced by BMW since 2017. It is marketed as a sports activity coupé (SAC), it is considered a sportier and less practical alternative to the X1, as is the case with other even-numbered X models with its respective counterparts.

Crowdcube is a British investment crowdfunding platform, established by Darren Westlake and Luke Lang in 2011.

DriveNow was a one-way carsharing service wholly owned by the automotive manufacturer BMW. In 2019, DriveNow and car2go, a carsharing service from Daimler AG, merged to form the global mobility provider Share Now, with a combined fleet of 20,000 vehicles in 31 cities in 14 countries and over four million members worldwide. Share Now is one of the five mobility services which are part of the mobility joint venture of the BMW Group and the Daimler AG.

Carwow is an online marketplace for buying and selling cars. It uses the reverse marketplace model to remove the need for customers to negotiate with dealers when buying or selling their cars. When buying a new car, users choose the car they want, along with the various specifications and features, and then receive offers directly from dealers. When selling a car, users upload some basic details about their car, after which different car dealers are invited to bid to buy the car directly from them. It also provides information to prospective purchasers and gives feedback on rogue dealers. The company has a YouTube page, run by motor journalist and Carwow's Chief Content Officer Mat Watson, where different cars are reviewed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pod Point</span> Electric vehicle charging provider

Pod Point is a UK provider of electric vehicle charging station. It provides charging units for home, business and public use. Since forming in 2009, Pod Point has manufactured and sold over 220,000 charging points. It has also developed one of the UK's largest public networks, connecting EV drivers with charging stations nationwide at locations such as Tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury's, Center Parcs and Southern Rail. Since 2014, when it signed a partnership with automaker Nissan, it also operates in Norway.

Byton was a Chinese-German all-electric vehicle automotive brand established in 2017 and incorporated in Hong Kong, co-founded by former BMW and Nissan executives. Byton unveiled its first concept car to the public in January 2018. It planned to introduce its M-Byte SUV model first, with the start of production and sales scheduled for late 2019, however developmental delays and financial troubles repeatedly pushed back the launch.

Vehicle subscription is a service where a customer pays a recurring fee for the right to use one or more automotive vehicles. Some vehicle subscriptions offer insurance and maintenance as part of the subscription fee; other subscriptions allow the subscriber to switch between different vehicles during their subscription period. Industry commentators consider vehicle subscription to be an alternative to owning or leasing a vehicle.

Acton Capital is an international venture capital fund, founded in Munich (Germany) and investing in tech-enabled startup companies in Europe and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorway (brand)</span> British used car marketplace

Motorway is an online-only used car marketplace based in the UK. It uses a selling platform to allow users to sell their car to dealers. Motorway is based in London and Brighton in the UK.

Revv Cars is an Indian self-drive mobility start up funded by Hyundai and others. The company was founded by Anupam Agarwal and Karan Jain in July 2015 and started its operation in Delhi-NCR. Through Revv, customers can rent a car up to a period of 4 years. Apart from renting for specific number of hours or days, the company also let customers rent for one-way journeys. The company operates with a standard hub model - where there is a hub of cars from where the vehicles are dropped to the customers. The company staff is able to come back to the hub with the help of a foldable electric scooter which is stored in the boot of the car. The company had stopped its services during the initial lockdown for few months and resumed later. Apart from acquiring vehicles directly, the company also works on a crowdsourcing model in which individual would buy a car on a 10% down payment and register it with Revv. Revv pays a fee to the individual that is equal to the monthly installment to pay the loan which is usually for 4 years.

Yulu is an Indian company headquartered in Bengaluru. It provides shared low-speed two-wheeler electric vehicle (EV) services in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram and Kochi. Yulu operates 25,000 dockless shared EVs and has four million users. Its EVs are used for 280,000 last-mile deliveries and 10,000 commutes each day.

Cazoo was a British online car retailer based in London, England. Founded in 2018 by Alex Chesterman, the company went into administration in May 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SUN Mobility</span> Indian electric vehicle energy service provider

SUN Mobility is an electric vehicle energy services company founded in 2017 that develops, manufactures and operates battery swapping infrastructure for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and larger commercial vehicles. Battery swapping technology helps accelerate the faster adoption of electric vehicles due to the lower upfront purchase price of electric vehicles, and the lower running costs - particularly in the case of commercial applications.

References

  1. ↑ Clawson, Trevor. "Want A New BMW? A UK Startup Says You Should Subscribe Rather Than Buy". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  2. ↑ "UK car subscription company Drover rides off with funding - PE Hub". PE Hub. 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  3. ↑ "Drover gets £5.5m for its online car marketplace". UKTN (UK Tech News). 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  4. ↑ "Drover and BMW announce mobility partnership". www.fleetnews.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  5. ↑ "BMW Group to offer cars on subscription basis with Drover - Car Dealer Magazine". Car Dealer Magazine. 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
  6. ↑ Tucker, Charlotte (2020-12-17). "British used-car startup Cazoo to acquire Drover, a leading car subscription service". EU-Startups. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  7. ↑ "In detail: Cazoo founder lays out savage cuts to online used car dealer in investor call" . Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  8. ↑ "The Future of Cars: Are flying vehicles just a sci-fi fantasy?". ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  9. ↑ "Drover picks up £5.5M funding for its car subscription marketplace ñ TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  10. ↑ "BMW and Mini enter car subscription sector". Fleet World. 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  11. ↑ "One in ten drivers may choose Netflix-style car subscription within decade". Sunday Times Driving. 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  12. ↑ Car Subscription Brisbane
  13. ↑ "BMW and Mini launch pay-as-you-go subscription service | Autocar". www.autocar.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  14. ↑ "Karmo".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.