Turo, which bills itself as the world’s largest car-sharing market, filed for its initial public offering on Monday
The San Francisco-based company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to allocate as much as 5% of the shares to be sold to certain individuals, including hosts and guests who meet certain conditions in a direct share program.
Some of Turo’s large investors include IAC/InterActive (IAC) – Get IAC/InteractiveCorp. Report, led by Chairman Barry Diller, and entities affiliated with August Capital, the Menlo Park, Calif., venture-capital firm.
Turo, which began operating in 2010, will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TURO.
Turo said it was “pioneering a new category of transportation, advancing the next era of personal mobility by connecting consumers with an unrivaled network of privately owned vehicles.”
“[Guests] can book any car they want, wherever they want it, from a vibrant community of trusted hosts,” the filing says.
“Whether they’re flying in from afar or looking for a car down the street, searching for a rugged truck or something smooth and swanky for a event, guests can take the wheel of the perfect car for any occasion, while hosts can take the wheel of their futures by sharing their underutilized personal vehicles or building an accessible, flexible, and scalable car sharing business from the ground up.”
The company said it had more than 85,000 active hosts and 1.3 million active guests participating in its marketplace as of Sept. 30.
Revenue for the first nine months of 2021 more than tripled from the year-earlier period, to more than $330 million.
Turo said in the filing that “several seismic shifts in consumer behavior” are underway and are “fueling our long-term opportunity.”
Among other things, the company said that on-demand, mobile-first services have changed consumer engagement. In addition, Turo said cars are increasingly expensive underutilized assets.
“Cars remain the preferred means of transportation for short-, medium-, and long-duration trips across a variety of use cases, but traditional mobility options do not provide adequate and efficient access for consumers to vehicles,” Turo said.
The car-sharing opportunity Turo offers, the company said, “provides a more convenient, economically efficient, and environmentally and socially responsible way to access an extraordinary selection of vehicles compared to traditional car ownership and car rental.”
