Company type | Privately held company |
---|---|
Industry | Automotive Industry |
Founded | 2015 |
Founder |
|
Defunct | June 22, 2022 |
Headquarters | London , UK |
Services | Car Subscriptions |
Number of employees | 120 |
Website | www |
Drover was a British company providing vehicle subscriptions.
Users paid a recurring fee for the right to use a car with insurance, maintenance, tax, MOT and breakdown coverage, and could swap vehicles during the subscription or to cancel their subscriptions outright.[citation needed]
Drover was founded in late 2015 by Felix Leuschner, previously CEO of a fashion platform Sylistpick and virtual goods market Gamegoods,[1] and Matt Varughese. They had observed that most of the innovation in the mobility space had been focused on how to get from A to B but that very little had been done around car ownership itself.[2]
In March 2018, Drover received funding of £5.5m from investors including BP Ventures, Partech Ventures and Cherry Ventures. This was on top of a £2m pre-seed investment.[3]
In April 2018, Drover partnered with BMW Group to provide BMW and Mini vehicles on the platform.[4][5]
In December 2020, Drover announced that they were being acquired by Cazoo.[6]
In June 2022, Cazoo announced the closure of their 'cash intensive' car subscription services as part of a cost cutting plan.[7]
Drover did not own any cars, but provided a marketplace for vehicle subscriptions.[8][9] Users pay a monthly fee for a car, including insurance, breakdown cover, maintenance tax and MOT. There are no long term commitments so users can swap, upgrade, downgrade or cancel their subscriptions.[10] Felix Leuschner, CEO, claims that by providing a more seamless, online and all-inclusive experience, Drover will be able to improve the typical car purchasing experience.[11][12]
In 2018, some industry experts had predicted that the rise of autonomous vehicles will see traditional finance methods superseded by subscription services.[13][14]