French insurer invests €5m in P2P car sharing marketplace

French insurer, MAIF, has invested €5m in TravelerCar to fund the P2P car sharing marketplace’s expansion across Europe. MAIF has been working with TravelerCar for the past year providing it with a customised insurance solution.

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After raising €750,000 (about $837,093) back in July 2014, French peer-to-peer car sharing startup TravelerCar has raised €5 million (about $5.6 million) to bring its business to the next level.

At the end of last year, TravelerCar acquired one its main competitors, Carnomise, bringing its total user base to over 100,000. The company aims to increase its user base fivefold by the end of this year.

TravelerCar specialises in so-called ‘traveler-to-traveler rentals’, enabling users to both save money on parking fees at airports, train stations and ports, and earn money by renting out their vehicles while they’re on the road.

The fresh cash comes from French insurance company MAIF (via its investment fund MAIF Avenir, which earlier backed Paris-based NUMA) and prior investors, and should enable the startup to expand further into Europe.

MAIF has been working with TravelerCar since the beginning of last year, providing it with a customised insurance solution. Thomas Ollivier, head of sharing economy and new trends at MAIF, comments:

“By partnering with TravelerCar, we are becoming part of a borderless, more collaborative society.”

This post first appeared on Tech.eu.