Activate Capital Leads Carpool Startup Scoop’s $60M Raise

Corporate carpooling startup Scoop raised $60 million, bringing its total funding to $106 million since its 2015 launch, TechCrunch reported on Wednesday (Aug. 14).

The funding round was led by Activate Capital with participation from Goldman Sachs, NGP Capital, Total Group, BNP Capital and others. The money will be used to further expand and grow the platform.

The carpooling service helps people get to and from work with pre-scheduled trips based around people’s traveling times. Users can choose a morning departure time the night before and can schedule an afternoon time before that same day.

The app’s algorithms create the most efficient carpools based on routes, detours, preferences and more, the report said. Scoop launched in its home state of San Francisco before heading to Seattle. It is now in 2,000-plus cities including major metro areas like Los Angeles, Reno and Portland. The app has matched over 7 million individual carpool trips and has over 150,000 registered users.

The company also partnered with Lyft last year after the rideshare service tried offering carpooling with Zimride, which is now owned by Enterprise.

“By partnering together, Scoop and Lyft are ensuring that commuters not only gain a stronger sense of community by carpooling to work with co-workers and neighbors, but that they also feel supported in the event of last-second schedule changes and know they have guaranteed transportation home,” Scoop Co-Founder and CEO Rob Sadow said in a statement to the news outlet. “With this program, carpoolers are able to request a Lyft or view public transit options through the Scoop app.”

Another carpooling app, Carma, works with federal and state transportation agencies. Waze is also in on carpooling, letting riders and drivers find people to commute with based on their profiles, ratings, number of mutual friends and other search characteristics, such as gender, co-worker, classmate and proximity to desired routes.