Carzonrent India, the top Indian franchisee of the world’s largest car rental company Hertz, is expected to close a $25-40 million private equity deal over the next three months to fund its expansion plans, its chief executive Rajiv Vij said on Friday.
Carzonrent, which operates radio taxi service under the Easy Cabs brand, is planning to more than quadruple its fleet size to 30,000 by 2010. It has lined up investments of over Rs 100 crore for this year.
In two earlier rounds of fundraising, the company raised $7.5 million in private equity from Citigroup and Sequoia Capital. It is the largest personal ground transportation company in India with a fleet of 7,000 vehicles. Carzonrent operates radio taxis, chauffeured and self-driven cars, and leased fleet for corporates.
Easy Cabs began from Chandigarh two years ago with 50 cars. Today, it has expanded to Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad with a total of 1,400 cars.
Chief operating officer Ashok Vashist said the company plans to launch its Mumbai operations in the next few months with 250 cars and enter Chennai thereafter. Next year, it will roll out services in tier II cities such as Ahmedabad, Pune and Baroda.
Radio taxi operations are fast catching on in Indian cities. V Link Taxi, which operates the Meru brand, plans to take its fleet strength to 3,500 in one year from 1,600 now. Funded by India Value Fund, it is the largest radio taxi operator in the country.
Vij said Carzonrent’s retail business, which includes services such as radio taxi, rent a car and self drive, was expected to contribute 45% to the company’s total revenues against 12% now. “Our monthly revenue now is about Rs 12.5 crore. This should rise to Rs 35 crore by the end of the year,” he said.
Carzonrent’s fastest growing offerings are radio taxi, self drive, limousine service and operation of leased fleet for corporates, SMEs and professionals.
Source: DNA India