iCarsclub, a Singapore-based peer to peer car rental service, has raised $10 million in a Series A round from Sequoia Capital China and Crystal Stream Capital.
This fund will be used to expand the company's (TLabs here) operations in China and Singapore.
Previously iCarsClub has raised an angel round from Red Dot ventures, Wang Xing (CEO of Meituan), Zhuang Chenchao (CEO of Qunar), and Huang Mingming.
Founded in 2012 by Eddy Zhang (CEO) and Jamie Wang (Director), the company initially launched its operation in Singapore, and in October 2013 expanded into China under the brand name PPZuche.
The company says it will now extend the service (in addition to Beijing) to two more Chinese cities: Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Users can locate a nearby car that's available for rent using the company's mobile app. A key-less entry for vehicles available.
Competitors of iCarsclub in Singapore include ride sharing companies such as GoMyWayapp, car rental companies such as Drive.sg, and on-demand car hire services such as Uber, GrabTaxi, EasyTaxi, and MoobiTaxi.
Competitors of PPZuche in China include Huiche, Baojia (recently raised $5 million), and also ride sharing companies such as Wodache, and Pickride.
Like Uber elsewhere in some markets around the world, iCarsClub has experienced regulatory difficulties, not least in its home city of Singapore.
Managing director Clifford Teo says:
"Private cars in Singapore can currently only be rented out during the weekends from Friday 7 pm to Monday 7 am. iCarsclub is in the middle of talks with the Ministry of Transport and have facts and figures that prove that with the introduction of peer to peer car sharing, Singaporeans will use less cars and ease traffic congestion."