Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Silvercar Snags $11.5M To Fix Airport Car Rentals

Austin-based Silvercar, the startup led by Luke Schneider, is looking to improve the car rental experience with a new take on airport car rentals: offer only a single make and model of a car, and let users rent cars using a smartphone. The firm said today that it has snagged $11.5M in a Series A funding round to make that vision a reality, with plans to alunch its service late this year. The Series A funding came from Austin Ventures, CrunchFund, SV Angel, plus Chris Dixon and Dave Morin. Silvercar said its service will start by offering a single make and model of vehicle, the 2013 Audi A4, and let users book their vehicle using a mobile app, unlocking those cars with the same smartphone app. The entire checkout and rental process will go through that app or website, bypassing rental car lines and traditional rental counters. More information »