Japanese telecom and investment giant Softbank has another major investment this week. The latest investment target involves Getaround, the peer-to-peer car rental startup that was first introduced at TechCrunch Disrupt NY in 2011.
As mentioned by TechCrunch, the carsharing platform that allows users to rent cars in their city has announced that it has raised around $300 million in its latest Series D financing round. Softbank led this latest startup’s funding round, with some participation from Japan’s Toyota Motor Corporation as well as other unnamed investors.
The newly raised capital will be used to fuel market expansion in North America and around the world. The company also plans to use the fresh capital to launch new product offerings and develop mobility partnerships.
A quick look at Getaround: Softbank’s latest funded company
Founded in 2009 and based in San Francisco, California, Getaround is a peer-to-peer car sharing platform that allows users to rent and drive cars. The company has become a trusted community marketplace for people who want to list and rent their own cars. The company currently operates in 8 major cities across North America. These include Washington DC, Chicago, and Portland. In addition, the company also made strong partnerships with some of the leading companies in the mobility space.
These include Toyota Motor Corporation and Uber Technologies.
According to startup profiler Crunchbase, Getaround has already raised $403 million in total funding from 12 funding rounds. The company’s investors include Toyota Motor, Softbank, SAIC Motor, Menlo Ventures, SOSV, SPARX Group, Braemar Energy Ventures, and Triangle Peak Partners.
Getaround was founded by Elliot Koo (CTO), Sam Zaid (CEO), and Jessica Scorpio (VP of marketing).
Softbank denies any involvement in startup’s funding
In another Softbank-related stories, the Japanese investment giant has denied reports of its involvement in a pre-IPO funding round crypto startup. Last week, several websites reported that Softbank and Tencent were leading a massive funding round for bitcoin mining rig manufacturer Bitman, just a few days before its planned Hongkong IPO (initial public offering).
According to NASDAQ, the two investment giants have invested a huge amount of money in Bitman. The news about the massive investment has helped push the market value of Bitman to about $15 billion. The Japanese investment giant is known for its strong interest in crypto assets and blockchain technology, having previously announced a blockchain-related service. Despite its previous blockchain technology effort, the Japanese giant still denied any involvement in the Bitman’s funding round.
But NASDAQ reported that an anonymous source reached out with a tip to crypto news publication Cointelegraph, stating that neither the Japanese firm nor the Chinese telecom giant was actually involved in Bitman’s funding round.
