The singer-songwriter Vance Joy was sitting in a darkish event space in an inner Sydney industrial estate on Wednesday night, whipping through an exactly 27 minute set when he paused to talk about hiring a car in America.
“I eventually got the Turo car and it made the whole experience so much better... It’s a good vibe,” said Joy, real name James Keogh. “It makes you feel much more at home... Anyway here’s a song I probably wrote around those times. It’s called Saturday Sun.”
A gaggle of start-up people and influencers record their presence at Vance Joy’s performance launching Turo.Credit:Nick Bonyhady
Turo, the American car hire company Keogh was spruiking, began taking bookings in Australia last week. The company lets owners list their vehicles for hire online, encouraging them to build small leasing businesses on Turo’s platform.
As technology valuations plunge and cost-cutting rife in the sector, Turo’s event, headlined by Keogh, felt like a discount throwback to more profligate times, when money was no object in start-up land.
Uber, for example, paid megastar singer Beyonce $US6 million in share rights for a private 2015 concert in Las Vegas. But behind the technology crowd at the event gossiping about how much Keogh was paid ($10,000? $25,000? Most thought about $50,000, but the company refused to confirm) and the influencers taking selfies with luxury cars, the launch heralded a tooth-and-nail battle to come between Uber and Turo on Australian streets.
Turo poses a threat to Uber’s largest acquisition in Australia: its January purchase of a similar homegrown start-up called Car Next Door. It’s also more competition for smaller, local car-share outfits like GoGet and a host of traditional car rental companies.
Uber announced it had purchased car sharing service Car Next Door in January near the peak of the technology bubble, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and soaring interest rates sent valuations crashing.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal the price was $115 million, more than double the $50 million suggested in previous reports, according to filings with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
For Uber, which is already dominant in the Australian ridesharing and food delivery businesses, the Car Next Door acquisition, now rebranded as Uber Carshare, is its attempt to capture a slice of a new transport sector. It is also gearing up to challenge Turo on its home turf too when it rolls out the car sharing service in the US next year.