GM invests in Car-sharing startup RelayRide

"RelayRides (http://www.RelayRides.com), the world's first neighbor-to-neighbor carsharing marketplace, today announces that General Motors Ventures and RelayRides CEO Andre Haddad are joining previous RelayRides investors Google Ventures, August Capital and Shasta Ventures in bringing the company's total Series A funding to $13 million."

"The RelayRides/GM partnership gives us an unprecedented opportunity to grow the RelayRides marketplace, and this funding will help us realize a goal of introducing carsharing to a whole new group of drivers," said RelayRides Chief Executive Officer Andre Haddad. "Whether it's by helping a car owner make a few bucks renting out their vehicle or by giving the budget-conscious motorist an affordable driving alternative, the partnership allows us to bring the benefits of the RelayRides community to millions of new users in the U.S."
RelayRides connects car owners with those in need of an auto through a user-friendly platform. Owners make money – on average more than $250 in monthly revenue – as they provide neighbors with affordable access to a car. In using pre-existing autos, the service is more eco-friendly than those of competitors that put new cars on the road. RelayRides is the only company with its unmatched security technology and a $1M per transaction insurance policy.


Andre Haddad
CEO
Andre Haddad loves cars, the consumer web and the environment... RelayRides is the perfect synthesis of all three! He joined as CEO of RelayRides in September 2011. Before RelayRides, Andre was CEO of Shopping.com, the leading online comparison-shopping network, a company eBay acquired for $600M in 2005. Before Shopping.com, Andre was Senior Vice President, Product at eBay. He was responsible for product management, design and research at eBay's global marketplace business ($5.1B in revenue, $65B in gross merchandize volume, 100M active users in 2007). Andre played several roles at eBay including GM in Europe, VP International Operations and VP User Experience and Design. Previous to eBay, Andre co-founded iBazar, a leading European auction marketplace, which was acquired by eBay in 2001 for $140m. Andre was the COO at iBazar, overseeing Product, Marketing, Operations and International. Before iBazar, Andre was a brand manager at P&G and a consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton. He graduated from HEC Paris.

Shelby Clark
Founder & Chief Community Officer
Shelby first tried carsharing when his car died after a cross-country move to California. He loved living a car-free life, but thought carsharing would work better and grow faster if it was "for the people, by the people", a neighbor-to-neighbor experience. So he founded RelayRides. Shelby obtained his MBA from Harvard, where he cultivated his passion for entrepreneurship and social impact. Before Harvard, Shelby helped launch three socially focused startups. He was an early employee at Kiva.org, one of the fastest-growing nonprofits in history, where Shelby provided strategic direction while building internal systems to scale the organization. Previously, Shelby worked at Oliver Wyman as a management consultant, advising Fortune 500 companies on strategy and operations. Prior to Harvard, Shelby graduated with a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern.