Fair, the app-based used-car leasing service headed by Scott Painter, announced it has raised $385 million in a Series B funding round led by SoftBank.
It plans to use the money to take its consumer business and relationship with Uber worldwide. The round also includes investments from Exponential Ventures, CreditEase, G Squared, and Munich Re Venture‘s Ergo Fund. SoftBank has holdings in several cab-hailing companies and has been a supporter of autonomous driving companies.
Santa Monica, Calif.,-based Fair took its leasing service nationwide in the U.S. in 2018. Customers scan a driver’s license and shop used cars based on estimated monthly payments. They can then sign for the one they want with their finger, pick up the keys and drive it for as long as desired, with no debt, long-term commitment or paperwork.
Through an arrangement launched in February, Uber drivers can access Fair in their Uber app to pick a car they want to drive on a weekly basis and then walk away whenever they wish.
Launched in 2016, Fair offers consumers a flexible way to get a car that lets them choose the model, see its mileage and payments through a mobile app and avoid the usual paperwork and commitments of financing or leasing. Touting its business model as the “future of car ownership,” the company reports that it has provided cars for more than 20,000 users through 3,000 dealers in 26 U.S. markets. Fair has raised more than $400 million in equity funding in the past year, including a $50 million round in February.
Painter (LinkedIn profile), who started TrueCar and almost ran it into the ground by alienating its dealer-customers, moved to Fair as his next venture.
