The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2009–2025
Getaround raised $750M for car-sharing, then wound down its U.S. business
The peer-to-peer car-sharing pioneer raised $750M and went public via SPAC, but a lack of liquidity forced it to shut its U.S. operations in 2025.
Getaround · 2025-02-12
What happened
Getaround, founded in San Francisco in 2009, let people rent out their own cars to neighbors by the hour through an app. The idea drew more than $750 million in funding, including a $300 million SoftBank round in 2018, and Getaround expanded into Europe by buying Drivy and Nabobil.
The company went public in 2022 through a SPAC merger, and within months the New York Stock Exchange sent it a delisting warning as the stock sank. In February 2024 Getaround cut 30% of its North American workforce, admitting it had overhired, and posted an $11.4 million loss while exiting New York, one of its largest markets, over regulatory costs.
A year later the money was gone. On February 7, 2025, the board approved an orderly wind-down of the U.S. car-sharing business, laying off all U.S. employees, and Getaround pointed to 'an ongoing lack of liquidity which has made U.S. operations no longer viable.' Its European business, in six countries, continued.
Why it happened
- The SPAC listing valued the company on growth, but the unit economics of hourly peer-to-peer car rental never covered the insurance, support, and market-building costs at scale.
- Getaround overhired in the boom and then had to cut 30% of staff in early 2024, admitting the headcount was built for growth that did not come.
- The peer-to-peer car-sharing market stayed small and costly to regulate, and the fees to operate in big cities consumed the cash the company should have been using to reach profitability.
The lesson
Going public by SPAC does not make a business profitable — it just makes the cash burn visible. A venture-scale valuation needs a venture-scale outcome, and hourly car-sharing did not deliver one.
Aftermath
Getaround wound down its U.S. operations in February 2025, laying off all U.S. employees, and continued running its business in Norway, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium and Austria. The wind-down capped a decline that began with a NYSE delisting warning less than a year after its SPAC debut.
Sources
- TechCrunch — Getaround abruptly shuts down US car-sharing operations (Feb 12, 2025)
- GlobeNewswire via StreetInsider — Getaround, Inc. Announces Wind-Down of U.S. Operations (Feb 11, 2025)
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