“Contribute to the development of new (intra-city) electric mobility solutions in Belgium”
Dear Crowd Investors,
About one year ago you contributed to one of MyMicroInvest’s most successful campaigns: Zen Car, the first and only electric car-sharing company in Brussels. In the crowdfunding campaign, 165 investors contributed €99,900 in less than one week, together with €1,780,000 committed by professional investors. This financing enabled Zen Car to develop and grow as planned.
In the future, Zen Car has even bigger expansion plans to grow its vehicle fleet, reach new cities and multiply the number of charging stations. And because the community of users is at the center of their business, they have chosen to launch another crowdfunding campaign to finance their ambitious plans. And, this crowdfunding campaign gives you the opportunity to invest at the same valuation as the last investors, including Inventures, Ginion Group and the first crowdfunding campaign.
But first, let’s review the progress Zen Car has made so far:
Because you are part of the MMI community, we present you the opportunity to participate in this new financing round.
1) Zen Car is growing
Zen Car has shown an important growth in its activities over the past 18 months: from the of number of cars (+70%), number of hours booked in Zen Car (+80%), number of quality partnerships to the number of charging stations available (+85%).
a) The chart below shows the hours booked in Zen Cars, which has grown by 81% between January 2015 and June 2016 (and is a good measure for the use of Zen Car’s service).
b) Zen Car has expanded its fleet by almost 70% in 18 months, reaching a total fleet of 59 cars in June 2016 (21 in B2B and 38 in B2C), and acquiring both premium and basic electric cars.
2) Zen Car is supported by strong investors
Zen Car is backed by high quality financial partners, such as Inventures, an Impact Investment fund of €15M that already invested 500,000 EUR in the company. The Ginion group, famous for their knowledge of the mobility market, has also invested 500.000 EUR in Zen Car in July 2015.
And, you, the crowd, also supported Zen Car during their last crowdfunding campaign of September 2015, making the fundraising a real success.
This crowdfunding campaign gives you the opportunity to invest at the same valuation as Inventures, Ginion Group and the first crowdfunding campaign.
Zen Car is about one thing: ZERO EMISSION, ZERO NOISE.
A new definition of zen at the very heart of Brussels. A small revolution inside and out, the electric car contributes to clean air and produces no noise. It’s transportation without any stress, thanks to a smooth and silent drive for you and the others. The zen begins when you shut the door.
Zen Car, the leader in electric car sharing in Belgium, has developed a large fleet of electric vehicles and a network of terminals for the general public (B2C) and businesses (B2B).
Based on the company’s four years of experience, the new management of Zen Car has established an ambitious new expansion plan. This is why the holding company’s capital was increased by 1,867,912 EUR by the existing shareholders and with new strategic investors in July 2015 and April 2016. Since this is a project of social importance, all parties involved want to invite the general public to participate in this innovative project: to invest now in the mobility of tomorrow.
There are three major problems that result from the extensive use of cars in a city like Brussels:
1. Pollution: Transport represents 13% of CO2 emissions worldwide.* The effects of this pollution are more severe when there is a high concentration of vehicles in circulation, as is the case in cities.*[Source: UNEP, The Emissions Gap Report 2012] Today, the Belgian automotive fleet consists almost exclusively of thermal vehicles, which are are not only noisy but also result in substantial noise and air pollution. The electric vehicle remains a less common phenomenon.
2. Traffic jams: Belgium is located at the top of the ranking of the most congested countries in Europe and North America. The cities of Brussels and Antwerp are ranked above the cities of New York, Paris and London in terms of congestion.
3. Parking: Like all major European cities, the number of vehicles in Brussels is increasing while parking places remain limited. It is becoming difficult and expensive to park a car on the street.
Zen Car has developed a solution that contributes to the integrated mobility of tomorrow. The solution consists of an ELECTRIC CAR SHARING SERVICE and A NETWORK OF CHARGING TERMINALS.
The principle is simple: The user (1) joins free of charge online and receives his Zen Car card (2) they use their car and (3) returns it, either in an available, free space with the free-floating option, or in a departure station.
The user now has a car only when they need one, starting at 6€/hour. With Zen Car you can have a vehicle available at any time.
And more, the user pays only for their rental and Zen Car takes care of the rest:
1) THE CAR FLEET
Zen Car has opted for a varied fleet of vehicles. This fleet is suited to a B2C and B2B users.
In June 2016, the fleet was 59 vehicles divided in two categories (urban and premium).
The choice of two-seat and four-seat vehicles was made to offer vehicles suitable for all the uses of Zen Car members.
2) THE NETWORK OF TERMINALS
In the context of its B2C activity, Zen Car has developed a network of 33 public and private terminals in Brussels, with a total of 60 recharging points. Zen Car has also received the authorisation to install five new stations, with approximately 70 other locations in the process of validation with the various competent authorities.
In the Brussels-Capital region, all operators wishing to offer a car sharing mobility solution must be authorized operators. To date, Zen Car is the only authorized electric car sharing operator in Brussels.
This authorization is a major barrier to entry, and it allows Zen Car to develop its network of electric stations. The company has a strategic advantage compared to the competition.
In the framework of its activities, Zen Car has concluded many contracts with its suppliers (car manufacturers, in-car technology, insurance, website, etc.), with its partners (Interparking, Redevco, Renault, BMW, Blue corner) and with its (B2B) clients Delen, Cofinimmo, S.r.i.b, Befimmo, Desseille, Citizenguard, Cushman & Wakefield, Royal Canin, and City dev Brussels.
Zen Car has developed numerous partnerships for its activities. All partnerships enable Zen Car to respond better to its users requirements by supplying them with quality solutions.
Zen Car’s main partners are:
Zen Car benefits from a number of major trends, as demonstrated by a study conducted by Frost & Sullivan (Sept. 2011) where it is observed that the model proposed here is at the crossroads of several of these trends:
In the 70s, Belgian cities undertook major developments. The major urban works projects, in cities, accounted for a growing use of cars, and included construction of tunnels, bridges, viaducts, and more. The cities adapted to the cars. But in the 2000s, cars began to adapt to cities. Many manufacturers engineered ‘city car’ models like the Smart, the Mini, the Twingo, etc.
Today, our behaviour must adapt to enable sustainable mobility in our cities. We must change our mentality: mobility is consumed, it is no longer owned.
From a financial point of view, against the background of the trends of the new economic models and a more collaborative economy of sharing, we are gradually passing from a model of investment (CAPEX) to a model of cost per use (OPEX).
The car sharing market is developing mainly in the United States and in Europe.
Below is an overview of the distribution of the global market and the growth figures:
The market is dominated by major players. The competition can be considered on three levels:
On the global level, Zipcar (bought by Avis, USD $500 million, in 2013) and Hertz are the main players.
In Europe, players like the Groupe Bolloré in France (Autolib’), the Daimler Mercedes group (Car2Go) and BMW (Drive Now) are the major players in this car sharing market in France, Germany and the Netherlands.
In Belgium, Cambio is the only sizeable player to date. It is also the only other player to have car sharing operator authorisation (like Zen Car) in the Brussels Capital region.
Finally, there is indirect competition like that of traditional or Uber type taxi services.
Although Zen Car is the leading player in electric car sharing in Belgium, competition could potentially come from:
In the near future, high competition is expected from differents actors, notably since the announcement of free-floating. Major actors (Autolib, Car2Go, DriveNow, Europcar, Alphabet) position themselves regarding the Brussels carsharing market.
It must nevertheless be noted that:
Zen Car Holding is holding 100% of Zen Car Brussels and has no other activity than financing the activity of Zen Car Brussels. The accounts of Zen Car Holding and Zen Car Brussels, as well as the consolidated accounts, are provided in the Prospectus.
A 5-year financial plan for Zen Car Group has been developed by Zen Car’s management, based on the following assumptions. The results of the consolidated account at 31 December 2015 are given for comparison purpose. The numbers presented below are expressed in EUR.
Volume and prices are expected to evolve in the following manner:
These prices and volumes are expected to generate the following revenues:
The cost will evolve in parallel:
Based on these assumptions, the financial plan is presented below:
commercial CEO
Serge has led Zen Car since the summer of 2015. His vision for Zen Car is simple: to provide an amazing mobility experience to Belgian citizens. His vast experience draws on his work as a Manager and in Sales. Serge was Sales Manager at Bergerat Monnoyer (Belgique) the Belgian distributor of Caterpillar. He had also launched a company that sells wooden pellets for heating systems.
commercial Manager
Dominique joined the Zen Car team in August 2015. She is in charge of the B2B segment. Dominique has experience in different positions including: four and a half years as Agency Director at Which Belgium, seven years in the after sales department at Checkpoint Meto, seven years as corporate sales representative at Mobistar, and two years in B2B with Proximus. Dominique has a masters degree in international trade.
operational Manager
Cédric joined Zen Car in March 2011, as Operations Manager. Cédric was previously a freelancer, where he gained expertise in the Tourism and the Hotel industry. Cédric has a degree in Travel & Tourism Management.
technical Staff
Pablo joined Zen Car in November 2011, he is responsible for all of the cars in the fleet and for the maintenance of the electric terminals. He is a trained auto mechanic.