French car sharing site says rentals doubling annually

Drivy, a firm that puts privately owned cars up for rent via the Internet, is doubling the scale of its business annually, the France-based company said on Thursday as it announced a £31M ($35 million) capital raising.

Founded in 2010, Drivy claims to be the European market leader with 36,000 vehicles on its books, 850,000 users and 1.4 million rental days to date with rentals doubling annually. Insurance is covered by industry giant Allianz.

Its total vehicle base has risen from 16,000 in 2014 but is down slightly from a year-ago figure of 38,000 because of a fleet review that tightened its criteria on insurance status and vehicle type, a spokeswoman said.

Under Chief Executive and founder Paulin Dementhon, Drivy plans to use the extra funds to open in three new countries and develop its mobile phone applications to make rentals easier and more flexible.

"We have brought together the conditions required to accelerate our international development," Dementhon said in a statement.

The fund raising brought in new investors Cathay Innovation and Nokia Growth Partners (NGP). Existing shareholders include green fund Ecotechnologies and French government fund BPI France.

Drivy last raised funds in April last year in an £8M effort. Thursday's £31M injection is the fifth in its history for a total of just over £47M. ($1 = 0.8811 euros)