Saudi’s Telgani raises six-figure seed for its car rental platform

Riyadh-based car rental platform Telgani has raised six-figure investment (USD) in a seed round from 500 Startups, Saudi Venture Capital Company, Impact46, and a group of angel investors, it announced today in a statement to MENAbytes.

Founded in 2018 by Abdulkader Almkinzy, Telgani allows users to rent a car through its mobile app and have it delivered to their doorstep. The startup works with different local and international car rental companies in Saudi Arabia to provide (self-drive) cars in over 20 cities in the Kingdom. It claims have achieved 300 percent year over year growth in cars rented through the platform in 2019.

Telgani has recently also expanded to the United Arab Emirates and now works with over 300 service providers.

The users booking a car through it have the option to have the car dropped at their doorstep or pick it up from the rental company. The users can also book cars with drivers in some cities.

The statement by Telgani notes that the car rental industry in the Middle East & North Africa is estimated at $4 billion with Saudi accounting for over 15 percent of this market (at $600 million). “Today, there are approximately 4 million rental vehicles servicing Saudi Arabia, and it’s expected to get to 4.4 million in the next four years,” noted the statement.

“We’re really excited about what the next 12 months hold for Telgani. We are experiencing one of the most significant and important developments towards vision 2030, and we consider ourselves fortunate to be in the position to join this movement in building a more efficient and sustainable car rental industry.”

“Our marketing strategy takes place within two interrelated segments. On the corporate market, we have a focus on airports and hotel surroundings. While in the leisure segment, our rental services target agency owned facilities that are conveniently located around major roads and metropolitan areas,” he added.

Basmah Alsinaidi from the Impact46 team, said, “Telgani is tackling a great opportunity in the car rental space, especially with customer behavior currently changing to look for simple solutions of streamlining the long process of searching and renting transportation. We’re proud of the Telgani team who are a top tier team that are playing a key role in the disruption of this market.”

The startup plans to use the investment to expand and further develop its car rental services.