OX Drive attracts €2.8 million

OX Drive, the car-sharing platform for Tesla cars in Latvia, has signed an agreement with Industra Bank for €2.8 million in funding for fleet development. This will increase the number of cars by 80 to a fleet of 200 shared electric cars.

The company, which entered the market last year, was started by four young entrepreneurs – Egija Gailuma, Kristiāns Karlsons, Juhan Kaarma and Kristaps Vasiļjevs. Together, they founded Spaceship Ltd. So far, the developer behind OX Drive had invested more than €4 million in the platform.

Since its launch last summer, the platform has had more than 35,000 users. They have travelled a total of 2.5 million kilometres on 64,000 journeys. In the summer, OX Drive already expanded its fleet to 110 Tesla cars. The company noted that the new additions to the fleet significantly increased the number of users and the frequency of driving.

“Our development goes hand in hand with the expansion of our fleet, as this is the only way to meet the accessibility and ease of use needs of the platform’s users,” says Gailuma.

Previously, Gailuma stated: “We’re aware that this is just the beginning, so we’re already working on new markets and hope to have OX Drive in several countries within the next year.”

The company believes that the Latvian market potential is big and growing every year. This is evidenced by the large number of users. Most of the platform’s users live in Riga and its surroundings, so last year the platform expanded its Riga and Jurmala area with several other nearby locations, such as Mārupe, Jaunmārupe, Ādaži, Babīte, Ulbroka, Baloži, Vecāķi, Valdlauči.

The developers of the platform believe that the inhabitants of Riga and the surrounding region are open to using a shared platform as an alternative to privately owned vehicles. The costs of this tend to be lower, as there are no maintenance costs, electric cars can be parked for free in the city centre, and users are allowed to bypass traffic jams by using public transport lanes.

Author: Anda Asere (www.labsoflatvia.com)
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