YOYO

YOYO is like Netflix for cars. It provides an on-demand, pay-per-mile subscription service for cars.

Many major industries are shifting towards a subscription services model. YOYO is the only platform that allows car makers, dealers, rental companies and big box retailers to generate recurring revenue from its on-demand car subscription service for consumers.

For consumers, YOYO provides flexible access to a fleet of cars for less than the cost of owning. Its on-demand concierge service delivers the right car for the right occasion right to their door, without worrying about car payments, insurance payments, repair bills, DMV registration, parking at the airport etc.

YOYO makes money in three ways:

1) Usage fees: its members pay a per-mile usage fee for the miles they actually drive. The fee depends on the class of vehicle they order - anywhere from 50¢/mile for a small sedan to $1/mile for a full-sized sedan or SUV.

2) Data: Vehicles in its fleet will be outfitted with cloud-based connected-car tech, and will generate a rich dataset re: vehicle hardware and usage/behavior parameters directly from the field, as well as predictive analytics and pre-emptive diagnoses. The company believes that auto makers and insurance companies would find access to this data very valuable, in order to optimize their product development, reduce warranty costs and pricing of risk exposure.

3) Marketing paywall for brands: At scale, it expects its aggregate user base to be in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of members. These members represent a large opportunity to monetize with messaging on behalf of brands with complimentary services. It expects its marketing partners to pay a premium to access this user base.

Critically, this is not a capital intensive business: YOYO does not own the cars in its fleet. Its partners -- auto makers, dealerships, and rental firms -- contribute cars to its fleet.

YOYO, in turn, operates that fleet and shares the revenue generated with these partners. Investors are investing in is the asset-free platform (software and data layer) that enables the recurring revenue from its on-demand car subscription service for consumers.

It's a big potential opportunity: There are over 100 million households in the US that own 250 million cars. Americans spend over $1.5 trillion on cars.

Team Background

Hari Iyer - Co-Founder and CEO

Hari is the former Co-Founder and COO of Elio Motors, a low cost, ultra-high-mileage vehicle company that IPO'd.

Prior to Elio, he was Vice President, Engineering at Next Autoworks Company (formerly V-Vehicle Company), and an Engineering Manager at Johnson Controls Automotive.

He earned his MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and his Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State.

Ro Arora - Co-Founder & President

Ro is a serial entrepreneur and startup growth strategist.

He is the Founder/CEO of AirSquare, a mobile marketing platform, and has been a VP at Envia Systems, Inc. and GlobalWatt.

He earned a degree in Economics from McGill, and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Co-Investors

Tech Coast Angels

Largest angel investor group in the U.S.