Daimler-backed car-sharing marketplace Turo Inc. confidentially filed paperwork with regulators on Monday for a U.S. initial public offering, seeking to take advantage of the country’s red-hot capital markets.
The company’s platform allows car owners in 5,500 cities across the United States, Canada and the U.K. to rent out their vehicles. It has over 450,000 listed cars ranging from pickup trucks and minivans to luxury options such as Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce and Porsche vehicles.
Several other venture-funded companies in the automobile space, including SoftBank-backed Full Truck Alliance and self-driving truck startup TuSimple Holdings, have also gone public this year.
Companies typically file IPO paperwork confidentially to sort out any potential issues in their financial reporting with regulators behind closed doors. It also allows companies to shield their finances from competitors for a longer time.
Turo’s business boomed during COVID-19 lockdowns last year as people preferred car rentals over public transportation and air travel. Now, as pandemic-related restrictions ease, it is benefiting from pent-up demand for travel.
The company, which is led by former eBay Inc. executive Andre Haddad, raised $92 million in 2017 in a funding round co-led by Daimler and South Korea’s SK Holdings.
Turo’s other backers include Alphabet Inc.’s venture capital arm GV, and IAC – the internet media company from which Match.com and OkCupid were spun off.