Chester T. Dean 
Scottish tech start-up Coastr has secured £ 1.4million in funding through London-based investment platform GroVentive.
It offers a cloud-based vehicle rental management platform that enables independent vehicle rental companies to go digital and save money, optimize fleet utilization and maximize revenue.
Coastr’s software uses artificial intelligence (AI), telematics, and direct integrations with manufacturers through partners such as CalAmp and Smartcar.
The company “white labels†its software so that rental companies can accept reservations under their own brand name.
With the new financing, the Coastr team plans to bring additional products to market in 2022, such as on-demand fleet insurance, integrated vehicle financing, and connectivity to market aggregators and booking platforms.
Formerly known as Nuvven, Coastr’s vision is to connect the mobility ecosystem for vehicle rental.
It has partnerships in place with Volkswagen Financial Services and existing customers include UK van rental company Herd Hire Group.
The company also plans to launch its own branded mobility services platform, working with rental partners to utilize networks and spare capacity.
Coastr is targeting the UK and Europe over the next two years, its technology is also being tested outside of Europe.
Edinburgh-based Coastr opened a second office in Bangalore, India earlier this year where it plans to grow its operational and technology teams.
Over the past 12 months, the company has doubled its workforce to reach a team of 35 members.
Coastr was founded by former PwC technology strategist Biswajit Kundu Roy in 2018. He graduated from the University of Strathclyde and also held senior technical positions at the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Managing Director Roy, said: “Our vision is to empower vehicle rental operators and help the end customer reduce queues and paperwork for a seamless rental experience fit for the 21st century. .
“At the same time, our goal is to help them become more competitive and move to more sustainable business models, such as adoption of electric vehicles and contactless leasing. “
Bruno Pannetier, Director of Investments at GroVentive, added: “We are delighted to have provided such a large investment in such an extremely exciting company and we look forward to supporting Biswajit and his team in their high growth projects over the next few years. . “
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