Carsharing startup Ridecell closes $30 million new funding round

Ridecell, the platform for carsharing, ridesharing, and autonomous fleet operators, has closed its Series B funding round of $28.61 million.

The investment round was led by Cox Automotive, with participation from return investor Initialized Capital.

Additional funding came from industry partners across the mobility ecosystem, including Denso, Penske, Deutsche Bahn and Mitsui. 

These strategic partnerships connect Ridecell to a comprehensive portfolio of tier-one partners who provide critical products and services to mobility operators.

Ridecell says its work with these partners in fleet management services, vehicle components, and emergency roadside services will “increase the value mobility operators gain in these areas without having to reinvent the wheel for every integration”.

Ridecell says its goal is to partner and integrate with a comprehensive mobility ecosystem, including its customers’ existing partners, to help its customers power growth, improve user experience for their customers, and build a more sustainable business.

Ridecell CEO Aarjav Trivedi says: “Our platform and mobility ecosystem improves scalability and profitability for a large number of companies and mobility brands that are journeying towards an autonomous future.

“We believe that collaborating with all of our investors, along with a diverse set of industry partners, is key to creating a valuable and meaningful mobility ecosystem.”

Additionally, Ridecell has unveiled the first details of its Developer API suite, which allows partners to take creative control of their new mobility experience by designing their own app or web interface built on the Ridecell platform.

This will enable partners to build differentiation and features for their customer base while maintaining the advantages and scalability of Ridecell’s core platform capabilities.

Aarjav says: “Our goal with the Developer API suite is to give our customers comprehensive control of their user experience and differentiation, and also open the door for them to build integrations with their own ecosystem.”

David Liniado, vice president, new growth and development at Cox Automotive, says: “Cox Automotive’s strategic investment in Ridecell is another tangible move we are making in the mobility space, and a clear indication of our belief in Ridecell as a world-class provider of ridesharing and carsharing technology.

“Together, we will fill the missing link in the market for new mobility services that deliver cohesive management for the fleets of today and tomorrow.”

Ridecell’s funding partners all recognize the fundamental transformation represented by mobility services.

Penske and Mitsui are exploring solutions to leverage the changing transportation services landscape, including the importance of identifying and developing new urban mobility services as part of Penske’s core business model.

Denso is working on hardware designed specifically for new-mobility use cases. All this expertise is currently being leveraged into a more complete and robust Ridecell ecosystem.