HiGear
Private car-sharing club for luxury and sports cars.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Related Content
HiGear emerged in 2011 as a peer-to-peer marketplace focused on the luxury and sports car rental segment. The company was founded in San Francisco by Ali Moiz. The platform's core business was structured as an online aggregator, creating a secure community where car enthusiasts could list their personal high-end vehicles for others to rent, thereby generating income from an underutilized asset. A distinct feature of their model was the option for a renter to make a purchase offer on a vehicle they enjoyed driving, blending the rental experience with a sales opportunity. The company provided essential support services including insurance, member verification, and logistics to facilitate these transactions.
HiGear's journey began with a successful seed funding round on October 7, 2011, securing $1.3 million from investors such as Battery Ventures, 500 Global, Craig Sherman, and Kevin Chou. This capital injection supported its expansion in the San Francisco and Los Angeles markets. Despite its promising start and a growing user base of over 5,000 members, the company's operations were abruptly halted. This shutdown was a direct consequence of a significant security breach where a criminal organization, using stolen identities, managed to steal four vehicles valued at approximately $400,000. This incident exposed critical vulnerabilities in the platform's background check protocols.
In the aftermath of the theft and subsequent operational pause, HiGear was acquired by Rent2Buy on February 28, 2012. Rent2Buy, a platform that integrated car rental with a purchase option, saw the acquisition as an opportunity to gain access to HiGear's established customer base and high-end vehicle inventory. The acquisition aimed to revive the service under a new management team with promises of implementing more robust security procedures to protect assets and members.
Keywords: peer-to-peer car rental, luxury car sharing, sports car rental, online car aggregator, P2P car sharing, rent to buy cars, Ali Moiz, Battery Ventures, 500 Global, San Francisco startup, car rental marketplace, collaborative consumption, automotive technology, vehicle sharing platform, Rent2Buy, social car sharing, exotic car rental