Car-sharing platform HyreCar raised $12.6 million last week in an initial public offering of 2.5 million shares. The shares started trading June 27 under the ticker symbol “HYRE” on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
HyreCar is also granting underwriters a 45-day option to purchase an additional 378,000 shares at the IPO price — which could generate an additional $1.89 million before accounting for underwriting discounts and commissions. Underwriters, including managing underwriter Network 1 Financial Securities Inc., have not yet purchased any of those shares.
HyreCar has focused the past three years on “filling a clear gap” in the ridesharing industry, Joe Furnari, chief executive told Auto Finance News. With the mobility industry gaining traction, HyreCar has a “clear focus” on the future of transportation, Furnari said.
HyreCar had announced in May that it intended to go public, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. At the time, the company planned to offer 2 million shares, with an additional 300,000 set aside for underwriters, at $5 to $6 a piece.
In 2017, the company posted $3.2 million in revenue, up from $515,437 in 2016, while its operating loss was $4.1 million, compared with a loss of $838,560 a year earlier, according to its filing. Additionally, HyreCar’s driver base shot up 318% last year, to 4,430 drivers from 1,060 in 2016. However, the company noted in its filing that rapid growth and limited operating history have served as a challenge for its current business.
As a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace, HyreCar allows car owners to rent their idle cars to drivers for rideshare companies, such as Uber and Lyft. HyreCar, formed in 2014, is based in Los Angeles, with operations in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and several other cities.
As of 12:42 p.m. Eastern Time, the stock was trading at $4.98 per share, just under its $5-per-share IPO price.
