“We want to halve the number of cars in our cities,” says Thomas Christensen, COO of GoMore.
“Our calculations show that cars in Denmark are unused 96% of the time, and when they are used, it’s only by 1.3 people on average. And when we know that cars are a significant contributor of CO2 emissions worldwide, it makes good sense to rethink the way we use them.”
GoMore’s sharing concept for city dwellers looking for cheaper and more sustainable transport solutions has also sparked interest among investors. In 2015 GoMore bought the Spanish company Amovens. Backed by capital from more investors GoMore is now active in the Swedish and Finnish markets. In 2021 the company expanded to Switzerland where Nordea thanks to its large network was able to arrange contact to a large local bank – and Austria awaits around the corner.
The collaboration between GoMore and Nordea started at the end of 2019 when GoMore ramped up the launch of its concept in the Nordic markets and realised that contact to various local banks could soon become a time robber for a small start-up without an actual finance department.
Through Nordea Startup & Growth GoMore got in touch with cash management specialist Lars Kristoffersen, who introduced Nordea’s Corporate Access solution. The solution fulfilled a strong wish from GoMore to have one common process for payments across the Nordics. The solution was put into operation and subsequently Nordea also helped introduce GoMore’s employees to the new way of working.
“For start-ups and scale-ups it’s crucial to free up time to focus on growth, business concept and customers,” says Lars Kristoffersen.
“Things must be easy and simple, with full overview of finances and transactions. That feels reassuring when you want to expand into other countries quickly. With our solution we offer a wide range of payment types and are able to handle large volumes. Payments are made locally in each of the Nordic countries, but the point of entry is always Denmark also in terms of advice and support, so GoMore only needs to deal with one contact. I’m really pleased that we can be an active sparring partner for GoMore when they want to capture new markets.”
GoMore was founded in 2005, initially as an internet portal for ridesharing, but since 2018 private car rental has been its core business. Private leasing with the option to sublease is also a part of the concept with growing demand. Car rental takes place via GoMore’s website or the GoMore app. Car owners can choose to have technology installed that makes it possible to unlock the car using the app, which makes it even easier to rent out the car.
We’re a digital company but customer service must be very close at hand and everything to do with payment and insurance must work smoothly so both car owners and users can feel safe.
As GoMore’s concept fundamentally breaks with many of the conventional ideas and emotions associated with owning a car, the company has spent a lot of time on communicating how it works as clearly as possible; especially the efforts to make it safe and simple for customers are absolutely essential for penetrating new markets, says Reza Biltsted Norouzi, GoMore’s Finance & HR Manager:
“We’re a digital company but customer service must be very close at hand and everything to do with payment and insurance must work smoothly so both car owners and users can feel safe. When venturing into new markets we invite the local team to Copenhagen where we train them in all aspects of the concept and all the questions that customers have about keys, payment, insurance and so on. This is definitely where our focus is right now.”
And according Thomas Christensen, GoMore has gained quite a lot of experience with how difficult it can be to break through in a new market with an innovative concept.
“In 2016 we entered the French market, but the local team was not fully familiar with GoMore’s concept and at the time we also struggled with getting a faster payment flow up and running, which is absolutely crucial for customers’ trust in us. In Nordea we have found a partner with something to offer both when it comes to solutions, speed and our aspirations to reach even more cities and users.”
And GoMore and Lars Kristoffersen have more projects in the pipeline. In 2022 Swish Payout, the Swedish mobile payment solution, and bank accounts in Spain and Switzerland will be connected, giving GoMore a full overview via Nordea Corporate Netbank.
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