Rental automobile startup Kyte has shut down almost one 12 months after slashing employees and exiting most of its cities in america. The corporate offered its buyer record to Turo in July after which turned proper round and entered right into a type of receivership in California, in keeping with a discover that went out to Kyte collectors.
Kyte fell behind on a few of its loans earlier this 12 months, in keeping with the discover. That precipitated the corporate’s high lender to repossess and liquidate Kyte’s car fleet.
Kyte’s board of administrators “pursued numerous capital options” to maintain the corporate alive, the discover states. However the firm wasn’t capable of line up financing and the board voted to wind down Kyte.
Whereas Kyte handed its buyer record to Turo, quite a lot of customers who had prebooked journeys earlier than the shutdown have complained that they’re caught ready on refunds for tons of of {dollars}.
Some who spoke to TechCrunch stated they have been capable of get their bank card firms to carry out a charge-back, whereas others have had no luck. Kyte CEO Nikolaus Volk advised TechCrunch in a message that charge-backs could be the quickest approach for purchasers to get that cash again.
Based in 2019, Kyte supplied on-demand rental vehicles that it additionally delivered on to prospects’ properties. It managed its personal fleet of autos, making it a bit extra like Zipcar and fewer just like the peer-to-peer choices of gamers like Turo. Kyte grew to 14 markets and raised greater than $300 million in financing over its lifetime, and began billing itself because the “greatest competitor to Hertz.”
The enterprise began coming aside in 2024, Volk advised TechCrunch final 12 months. Kyte was struggling to generate free money movement in markets like Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Volk stated his crew explored promoting the enterprise however determined to restructure and give attention to reaching revenue within the two greatest markets of San Francisco and New York Metropolis.
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Kyte’s not the one startup on this sector to run into hassle — particularly in america. Getaround, one other peer-to-peer car rental service, shuttered its U.S. operations in February of this 12 months to give attention to its European enterprise. TrueCar founder Scott Painter pivoted away from car subscriptions in 2024 after struggling to construct up a enterprise known as Autonomy.
