Indian ICO Drivezy, a blockchain alternative for car and bike rentals, has raised $5 million in its first offering of RentalCoins.

Compared to Europe and the US, India’s 1.3 billion population are underserved by access to cars. There are 167 motor vehicles per 1,000 Indians, compared to 795 per 1,000 Americans and 519 per 1,000 Brits.

Drivezy offers a way to make India’s cars work harder – allowing their owners to rent them out when they’re not being used.

Sharing Economy ICOs a Growing Trend

Drivezy CEO Ashwarya Singh hopes that the ICO will create “… 1 million micro-entrepreneurs who can supplement their household income by renting their assets.”

The ICO is the latest of blockchain-based sharing economy ICOs that are seeking to challenge traditional centralised models such as Uber and AirBnB.

Today, the Helbiz project will be launching its own ICO main sale to finance a platform that will initially offer a similar service to Drivezy, but which is also aiming to build a platform which accommodates other kinds of transportation types in a sharing economy arena which is set to be become one of the most competitive for blockchain start-ups.

Drivezy is itself a pre-existing business, however, and claims to have more than half a million regular users of its app, leveraging a fleet of 1,300 cars coming from 800 owners. With funds raised from their ICO they hope to add another 800 vehicles to their pool.

95% of monthly revenue received by the companies from its rentals will be distributed among RentalCoin holders. RentalCoin will also be used as a means of payment within the system.

The company has history in the cryptocurrency space, last year offering bitcoin payments for its rentals until transaction costs made it prohibitive. According to Singh, crypto-payments in some form will be available in the second phase of the RentalCoin ecosystem.

Investors in the pre-sale were subject to the same requirements as US accredited investors, needing a net worth of at least $1 million or annual income over $200,000. Singh says that investors in the round included high net worth individuals from Japan and Singapore.

Drivezy, formerly known as JustRide, was backed by Y Combinator and Google’s Launchpad Accelerator program in 2016. It hopes to raise an additional $15 million in the upcoming public sale.