Zimride Funding Will Change Transportation One Seat at a Time

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zimride, the largest online ride-sharing service in North America, today announced that they have closed a $6 million Series A round led by the Mayfield Fund. Existing investors FLOODGATE and K9 ventures from the Series Seed round also participated in this funding. The company allows drivers to sell the empty seats in their car to passengers who need a ride along popular routes, such as between San Francisco and Los Angeles. As part of this vision, the company not only facilitates monetary transactions, but connects individuals, many of whom list the personal connections they’ve made as a key benefit of the service.

“We plan to use this new round of funding to significantly scale our networks, build out new markets and expand product functionality.”

Since Zimride’s launch in 2007, the company, who aims to transform transportation infrastructure by integrating social networks and ride sharing, has facilitated more than 26,000 carpools, helped users travel over 100 million miles and created over $50 million worth of savings in vehicle operating expenses. Zimride is a key resource on over 120 university and corporate campuses across 30 states in the US and has partnered with artists including Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews Band and Sheryl Crow to provide ridesharing to their events. Expanding on their growing success in the college and corporate market, Zimride launched their first public route, San Francisco to Los Angeles, in August and is seeing steady growth with thousands of rides shared in less than a month.

“Since launching, we’ve made significant strides towards meeting our original vision—to create a low-cost, community-powered transportation system for road trips and regular commutes,” says Logan Green, co-founder and CEO of Zimride. “We plan to use this new round of funding to significantly scale our networks, build out new markets and expand product functionality.”

Key to Zimride’s success is the combination of social and accessibility. Zimride users connect via Facebook, which adds a layer of trust to the system. Before a rider accepts a seat in a car or a driver accepts a passenger, he or she can view the person’s profile information to ensure he or she is comfortable with the match. Adding another layer of security, the company has targeted college communities and corporate networks—requiring riders or drivers to be a part of the college/university or corporation in order to participate. The company will continue to expand its college and corporate program while also growing their public routes program, aiming to provide transportation opportunities to over 300 networks by the end of 2012.

“The Zimride team is addressing a multi-billion dollar market opportunity by building new transportation infrastructure in a country where 75% of the seats on our highways remain empty. Their early success on college campuses lays the groundwork for their network effect business in what will be a winner-take-all market,” says Raj Kapoor, Managing Director Mayfield Fund. “We are proud to ‘share the ride’ with Zimride’s founders as they not only have the passion to create a massive successful enterprise but also a strong desire to make the world a better place through collaborative consumption.”

About Zimride:

Zimride is building a marketplace for drivers to sell empty seats in their car by matching them with passengers traveling along the same route. Zimride is the largest online social rideshare community in North America. In addition to public routes like San Francisco to Los Angeles, Zimride has implemented networks for over 120 of the nation’s leading universities and companies including Stanford, UCLA, University of Michigan, Facebook and Jet Blue.

Zimride makes sharing rides for drivers and passengers fun, easy and social. It’s a new spin on ridesharing, using social networks to enable real connections. In seconds you can set up a profile, see and book a ride in your area, or post a ride of your own. With Zimride profiles, you can view photos, music and radio preferences to ensure an enjoyable ride.

Zimride proves that “life is better when you share the ride”: www.zimride.com