Car-as-a-service startup sees turnover soar

Local startup Instacar is anticipating a 35% jump in turnover amid this second lockdown. The company provides corporations and individuals with the option of obtaining a car or a van through a flexible form of leasing called car-as-a-service.

“November will go down as a record month for us,” says Antonis Samothrakis, one of Instacar’s founders: “The increase in our turnover is also thanks to the supply of minivans to large retail chains which are trying to cover the large volume of orders for home deliveries. Last month we supplied enterprises with more than 100 vans,” he tells Kathimerini.

Many chains do not know how long this massive increase in online purchases will last for, so they are choosing to invest in this “subscription model” for car leasing that the company offers.

“At this stage, a number of corporations will not commit funds for the acquisition of cars or for closed leasing contracts. On the contrary, using our service, a consumer or an enterprise can lease a vehicle for as long as they want and change it whenever they want,” explains Samothrakis.

A key advantage of Instacar compared to similar services is that customers can obtain their vehicle through a digital procedure that lasts no more than a few minutes.

Samothrakis notes that some of the vehicles in the company’s portfolio have been bought by Instacar, while others are sublet from official brand representatives it cooperates with.

The other co-founders of Instacar are Vassilis Damianos and Antonis Zois, who both have long experience in the sectors of cars, startups and financial ventures from companies such as efood, Avis and PwC, among others.

In its 14 months of operation, Instacar has built a portfolio of 500 vehicles valued at more than 7 million euros; before the pandemic the company only had 80 vehicles.

The company has attracted investor interest, raising funding of 300,000 euros from investment fund Velocity Partners. “In 2020, our revenues will exceed €1 million, while we aspire to see our fleet reach up to 1,500 vehicles in 2021,” says Samothrakis, adding that “we are also planning to expand our service in the Balkans.”