Kate, An on-demand car rental service, launched in Seattle on Friday.
The service provides car rental services directly to drivers. Customers can choose a specific delivery time and location to purchase a car through the app or the company website. They can rent on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, eliminating the waiting time and paperwork of traditional car rental services.
San Francisco-based Kyte will provide services in the communities of Seattle and Ballard, Fremont, Capitol Hill, Madison Park and Columbia City. Seattle is Kyte’s eighth city of operation.
Kyte was founded in 2019 by Francisco Widman, Used to work for ReachNow, a ride-sharing company.The other founders are Nicholas Walker, Formerly a software engineer at Uber, and Ludwig Schonak, Formerly the venture partner of Contrary.
Kyte’s ride-sharing competitor in Seattle is GIG, an AAA service that allows customers to rent cars by the day, hour or minute-suitable for one-way rentals. Wiedemann told GeekWire Kyte to differentiate itself by long-term lease.
“We also want to give Seattle residents and travelers the freedom and flexibility to explore all of the city’s exciting destinations-from hiking in Mount Rainier or Olympic National Park to seeing Snoqualmie Falls at will.” Wade Man said.
Wiedemann said that customers can choose between models, including economy, sedan and SUV. Customers pay daily rates, as well as additional shipping and return fees totaling $19.
Wiedemann said that this summer, Kyte’s business has increased and it has grown by 40% from the previous month.
Before: GeekWire’s Great Competition II: Take a taxi, Lyft, electric bike, bus, etc.-this is the winner of Seattle peak hours