Kiwi company crowdfunding to expand “airbnb of cars”

Auckland-based peer-to-peer car rental platform MyCarYourRental is aiming to raise up to $800,000 from their equity crowdfunding campaign, which launched recently on PledgeMe.

The funds raised will be invested in marketing to grow their car-sharing community.

Danish founder and CEO Henrik Stovring created MyCarYourRental over a year ago, having previously owned and operated a traditional car rental business for 15 years back in his homeland.

"When I first came across airbnb a few years ago, my eyes were opened to the power of the sharing economy," says Stovring.

"I began to wonder, 'why do we rent cars from big rental companies when there are so many local cars sitting idle in our driveways?'

"I wanted to match neighbours with neighbours to share the resources that they own and keep the benefits of them connecting in the local community," Stovring says.

The idea behind MyCarYourRental is to better utilise Kiwi cars for the benefit of the individual, the environment, and the community.

The majority of the money raised will go towards both online and offline marketing, as well as bringing on a digital marketing specialist, in an aim to triple the number of cars listed on the platform.

"We've learned a lot from the past twelve months.

"We've ironed out many small hurdles which have seen a significant increase in signups and owner-renter matches in the second half of the year," Stovring says.

"Now it's time to put those learnings into action with more effective marketing to build our community.

When it came to raising capital, equity crowdfunding made sense for Stovring.

"We're a peer-to-peer community that's built for the crowd, by the crowd.

"Crowdfunding allows us to stay true to our belief that we are here to serve our loyal community," Stovring says.

"The future success of the company will be a shared success.

Their equity crowdfunding campaign is live on PledgeMe until June 1.