22 November 2024, Fri |
9:56 PM
Eureeca, the global equity crowdfunding platform, has announced that the UAE-based pay-per-minute car rental service Udrive has raised US$1.3 million from 186 investors in just 48 hours.
The raise forms part of Udrive’s series A round of funding from their customers, institutional and everyday investors and continues to be open to investment as the company moves into overfunding.
Udrive, which was founded in the UAE in 2017 and is the vehicle sharing operator in the Middle East, currently has around 180,000 registered users across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Ajman. The company recently served their millionth trip, with user growth expected to double in 2021 as new users increased by 20% in the last six months.
Funding is expected to boost the fleet of cars in the UAE while also paving the way for expansion into Saudi Arabia and Turkey as part of the company’s drive back into growth mode.
Sam Quawasmi, Co-CEO and Co-founder of Eureeca, said: “We’re delighted Udrive has been able to reach the target initially set out on Eureeca.com, which forms part of the company’s Series A funding strategy, in such a short period of time. Udrive has now gone into overfunding and is still open to investors keen to own a share in the company.
“Institutional investors were keen to participate on this raise prior to going live and the demand has been compounded in the last 48 hours by the appetite from their customers and everyday investors to own equity in one of the Middle East’s most exciting growth companies. It also highlights the maturity of our platform and our ability to work with companies and facilitate raises of anything between US$1 million – US$5 million and beyond.
“Despite the challenges of COVID-19, Eureeca continued to successfully fund companies from the UAE, Malaysia, UK and Holland in the midst of the crisis, underscoring Eureeca, and the business model as recession proof. As a result of our success, we have seen a 400% increase in applications, including larger businesses looking to raise seven-figure raises, which is subsequently piquing the interest of institutional investors,” he added.
This latest success for the equity crowdfunding platform follows recent announcements which have seen funding of US$1.2 million and US$2.4 million for UK-based companies Teysha Technologies and the multi-award-winning electricity storage company Storelectric, respectively.
In the UAE, Eureeca facilitated the funding of US$817,000 for Fruitful Day, the office and home fruit delivery service as well as close to US$2 million for Enerwhere, a Dubai-based DEWA-certified solar utility company.
Hasib Khan, Udrive CEO and Founder, said: “In October, we decided that now was the time to continue our Series A funding round with Eureeca, a plan that originated in January 2020. As a regulated funding vehicle, Eureeca was able to give investors, many of whom are our customers, greater levels of confidence in investing in our business. Thanks to this funding, the future of the company looks incredibly positive.”
Since its launch in 2013, Eureeca has grown into a multi-regulated, cross-continent platform with over 30,000 active investors from 70 countries with an average investment size of US$5,800. Eureeca is designed to host investors of all profiles, from casual retail and active angel investors to institutional investment firms such venture capital funds – all of which are looking to buy equity in growth-oriented businesses of the future.
