Haup Car: car sharing application

The traffic congestion in the city may cause city dwellers too exhausted to drive the car every day, so they don’t get the maximum benefit they should get from owning a car.

But ‘haup car’ platform will link the car owner and customers who need to temporarily rent a car. Even  just half an hour or one hour.

Mr. Kris Wichaiwattanapanich, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Haup Car, said the car sharing concept is popular in many developed countries, especially in the United States. But there is yet no such service in Thailand.

Haup Car sees it as a business opportunity, so the company has developed the application which has become the first car sharing application service provider in Thailand. It started from being a partner with car rental companies over a year ago. Now, the company is ready to allow general car owners to register as a member and rent their cars.

As for service users, they are required to register, present their driving license and make booking via the application. They can select the nearest parking, select the time to use, and confirm booking. The service rate is based on the distance at 5.9 baht per kilometers from parking site to the destination and bring back to the parking site.

Aside from platform, the company has also developed the tracking equipment and car lock which helps to prevent cheat. It is easier for car owners too as they don’t have to present the car key by themselves. They can simply lock and service users can open and close the car by themselves too.

The company has joined in the feasibility studies of electric car sharing service with BMW, King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi and Schneider Electric (Thailand).

It is also a business partner of Ananda Development in providing the car sharing service to residents of Ananda. The pilot project begins with IdeoQ Samyan and Ideo Mobi Sukhumwit East Gate.

Currently, the company has over a hundred car sharing units for rent and will increase to 400 cars within the end of the year. It will expand the service sites for customers’ convenience.

The company believes that the car sharing will be another option for commuting in Bangkok. It gives privacy and can be rent temporarily with first-grade insurance policy as well.

Since the service started operation, the customers do not rent the whole day but temporarily such as go out for shopping, go out to the provinces. Most customers can new generation people and university students.

According to the studies of UC Berkely, one car sharing service can help reduce the number of car ownership by 20 cars and the car owner can get an additional 10,000 baht per month.

At present, the company has 8,000 users. It receives funding from angel investors in the seed round level. The company plans to raise fund Series-A in the first quarter of next year to expand marketing activities.