Kyte: Tech-Enabled Car Rentals
Rental Cars Delivered On-Demand
Alumni Ventures portfolio company Kyte is revolutionizing the way customers rent vehicles through a streamlined app and customer service.
One of the biggest pain points of travel is arriving at your destination and securing a rental car. Tourists and frequent fliers are often faced with long lines, redundant paperwork, and the disappointment of finding that the vehicle they were promised is no longer available. This disappointment is most notably illustrated by the $168 million class action lawsuit Hertz settled after it falsely accused several of its customers of theft.
Alumni Ventures portfolio company Kyte is helping consumers move on from legacy rental companies to a more convenient, user-friendly solution. Kyte is marrying the fleet management model of rental car companies like Hertz with the customer experience of ride-hailing services to address trips longer than an Uber ride.
Streamlining an Overly Complicated Service
Kyte eliminates many of the frustrations and logistical challenges legacy rental car companies shift onto users through a streamlined user experience and leading-edge mobile application. Kyte eliminates the physical paperwork, instead digitizing the entire process, similar to Airbnb or Uber.
Moreover, compared to traditional rental car companies, Kyte allows for vastly more flexible rental periods, with the added benefit of delivering vehicles directly to its customers. For many of Kyte’s users, the service has replaced the need to own or lease a vehicle, resulting in net savings for the end user.
What We Like About Kyte
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Rapid Traction
Kyte has expanded to 14 cities across the U.S., acquired over 2,000 vehicles, and achieved strong revenue and year-over-year growth — even in the face of Covid travel restrictions and supply chain limitations. - Home
Huge Market
The U.S. National Household Travel Survey and the International Road Federation report that 90% of the transportation market involves trips longer than an Uber ride and that this market is slated to be worth over $127 billion by 2028. - Home
Talented Team
Kyte’s founding team comes from Stanford, MIT, and Berkeley, with experience at Uber’s machine learning team, McKinsey’s mobility group, and BMW’s car-sharing team.
How We Are Involved
Spike Ventures (for the Stanford community) sponsored Alumni Ventures’ investment in Kyte’s $60 million Series B led by InterAlpen Partners. Sibling funds Blue Ivy Ventures (for the Yale community), The Yard Ventures (for the Harvard community), and AV’s Total Access Fund also participated in the round.
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