Vehiculum

Vehiculum was established in 2015 by Lukas Steinhilber, Melchior Bauer, and Guy Moller to address the lack of transparency in the German car leasing market. The idea originated from co-founder Lukas Steinhilber's frustrating personal experience when searching for a company car in 2014, finding the market to be entirely offline and opaque. The company set out to digitalize the process, creating a platform that allows for a simple, nationwide comparison of leasing offers in real-time.

The Berlin-based firm operates as an online marketplace for car leasing, initially focusing on bringing corporate car leasing online for small and mid-size companies. The business model centers on providing a digital, hassle-free leasing experience, from vehicle selection and configuration to contract signing. Vehiculum partners with car dealerships across Germany to offer a wide selection of makes and models on a single platform. Revenue is generated by facilitating leasing transactions directly on their website, a departure from the lead-generation model common in the industry. The platform's core service is to provide price transparency and allow users to compare different providers and offers efficiently. It also offers additional features like contract management, which assists smaller companies in managing their vehicle fleets.

The company's journey included significant funding milestones, starting with a seed round in 2017 and a Series A round of €7 million in January 2019, led by Runa Capital. This capital was intended to fuel the expansion from a B2B focus to include private customers (B2C). A notable achievement was a partnership with the supermarket Lidl, which marked its first major step into the B2C market and resulted in leasing over 1,000 Fiat 500s in a single week. However, in September 2021, Vehiculum filed for insolvency, citing the global semiconductor shortage that caused vehicle delivery bottlenecks and the failure to finalize a crucial investment round. Prior to this, there were discussions about an acquisition by the MeinAuto Group, which did not materialize. Despite the insolvency, the company was acquired by MeinAuto on August 24, 2021.

Keywords: car leasing, online marketplace, vehicle leasing, digital automotive, fintech, fleet management, leasing comparison, German auto market, B2B leasing, B2C leasing, vehicle procurement, contract management, automotive e-commerce, mobility solutions, real-time price comparison, MeinAuto Group, Lukas Steinhilber, Melchior Bauer, Guy Moller, Berlin startup