Everything you need to know before starting your car-sharing business
February 23, 2024
min. read
Is it a good time to start a car-sharing business? Absolutely.
The car-sharing market is booming – it's estimated to grow 20% every year and reach a $20 billion market value by 2032. That's nearly a sevenfold increase from 2022's $2.9 billion valuation.
Despite app-based vehicle sharing being a relatively new entrant in the mobility ecosystem, it has exploded in popularity. People have been quick to pick up on its convenience and ease of use, especially in urban centers where maintaining a private vehicle grows increasingly costly and bothersome.
This spells an opportunity for entrepreneurs keen to answer real mobility demand.
But what is car-sharing and how does it work? What does the business model look like? And what are the first steps for getting started?
Find the answers below.
What is car-sharing and how does it work?
Car-sharing is an app-based mobility service that allows individuals to rent vehicles on a short-term basis. With this service, users gain access to a fleet of vehicles which are typically stationed throughout a city, ensuring that there's always a car conveniently nearby.
The user's journey and benefits of car-sharing
Through an app on their smartphone, users can locate, book, and unlock the closest available vehicle, as well as pay for their journey automatically by adding payment details, thus providing a seamless experience and quick access to a car. Other common benefits for users include not having to worry about fuel or insurance, as those are included in the price.
Cities often encourage the use of shared mobility since it helps decongest streets, free up parking, and minimize the environmental impact of private vehicles on the city. Accordingly, public-private partnerships are common, conferring further benefits for users of this type of shared mobility: free parking, free use of bus lanes, and more.
How does car-sharing work: the business perspective
On the business side of things, the operator is responsible for ensuring that maintenance and logistical tasks for their fleet are taken care of.
This includes regular maintenance tasks, such as vehicle check-ups, repairs, fuel fill-ups, and cleaning. Also, if you have a free-floating model (where users can leave their cars anywhere), the operator should regularly relocate cars to optimal locations for continued user convenience and reliability.
Beyond deploying and maintaining their fleet, operators also oversee the smooth functioning of their mobility app, as well as take care of user verification, namely, ensuring that the people signing up are who they say they are and have valid driver licenses. Of course, like any other business, customer support and other responsibilities tied to running the operation are a given.
The car-sharing business model
So far, we have listed a lot of expenses – maintenance, management, insurance, IT. Add to this salaries, operational overheads, and buying or renting the fleet itself. How do businesses recoup all these expenses and turn a profit?
Note: Since car-sharing businesses operate at scale, they should aim to negotiate lower rates with service providers.
Car-sharing businesses make use of several revenue sources. First and foremost, customers are charged for the time/distance use of the car. Additionally, branding and cross-promotion partnerships (e.g. advertising on the car or the app) are often used to secure additional revenue. It may also be sensible to create membership or loyalty programs to ensure recurring revenue, by offering subscribers added benefits, such as access to premium cars or longer reservation times.
The aim is to have your cars on the road as much as possible, so enterprises typically focus on maximizing vehicle usage and revenue per vehicle. Finding success is about finding balance in a constantly changing landscape – having too few cars may lead to overbooking and dissatisfaction with lack of availability, whereas having too many will lead to inefficient use of resources.
How to start a car-sharing business
As with any business, launching a car-sharing project requires research, investment, development, and strategy. Let's take a look at each in turn.
1. Market research
When exploring opportunities for starting a car-sharing business, numerous factors must be considered.
Audience and demand
Understanding the demographics, preferences, and behaviors of your potential users is crucial. As is determining the level of demand. Some questions you should answer include:
- Who is my target audience – urban commuters, occasional travelers?
- What are their demographics? How should you communicate with them?
- What segment offers the most promise – B2C, B2B?
Competition
Identifying who's already operating in your area and why (or why not) can help you get a better grasp of what works and what doesn't. Some questions you should answer include:
- Who are my competitors – other car/ride-sharing businesses, public transportation?
- How can I differentiate my business from others?
- Has any previous similar business failed in this area – why?
Legal and logistical considerations
Determining whether there are any legal/practical barriers to launching your operations is a smart thing to do before you invest too much time and money into your project. Consider:
- What are the legal requirements for operating this type of business in your area?
- How will you handle insurance and liability issues for your fleet?
- How and where will you run your day-to-day operations? If you're thinking about going electric – does the area have the necessary infrastructure?
While answering these questions isn't necessarily a prerequisite for launching your business, dealing with them early on can save you a lot of headaches down the road.
2. Investment
How much capital do you need to launch a car-sharing business?
It depends most on whether you're planning to rent or buy vehicles for your fleet. While renting is more accessible in the short term, it will take a sizable bite out of your profit. Owning your vehicles is typically the preferred option, as this offers price stability, long-term cost efficiency, freedom of operations, and other benefits.
To get a ballpark estimate for the starting investment, you should add up the total price of cars (EUR 12,000-20,000 per vehicle), insurance, car-sharing software procurement and maintenance, as well as expected operational overhead for getting started. It may also be wise to put aside some funds for unexpected expenses such as repairs.
3. Development and launch strategy
Securing the vehicles and necessary permits can take a while, and you should account for this. During this time, you should put your plans into practice. Establish maintenance protocols and logistical plans for efficient fleet management. Implement user verification processes and responsive customer support for a secure and positive user experience.
As to the IT infrastructure, you can save a lot of resources by choosing a white-label IT solution to power your app and dramatically accelerate your time-to-market. Platforms like ATOM Mobility can equip your business with the app you need – all you have to do is customize it.
Speaking of customization, don't forget about branding. Create a compelling brand identity and plan for targeted launch and marketing campaigns to generate awareness the moment your business is ready for its first customers.
Your car-sharing business journey starts here
Now you know how to start a business in this industry – entering this thriving market demands a blend of user-centric strategies and astute business decisions. But the key to success is reliable partners that can guide you in the right direction. Try out our free floating carsharing software and get on the road today!
Get in touch with ATOM Mobility to discover how you can power your new enterprise the smart way.
Interested in launching your own mobility platform?
Click below to learn more or request a demo.
Blog
Introducing ATOM Mobility OpenAPI: Empowering mobility operators with seamless integrations
✅ ATOM Mobility has launched OpenAPI v1 - giving vehicle-sharing, rental, and ride-hailing operators full control to integrate their services into MaaS platforms, websites, and partner apps. Discover how this powerful tool can help you expand reach, automate operations, and drive more bookings.
July 9, 2025
min. read
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the ATOM Mobility OpenAPI v1 - a major step toward enabling mobility operators to seamlessly integrate their services with third-party platforms, partner systems, and custom applications.
With the OpenAPI, ATOM Mobility opens up new possibilities for businesses running vehicle-sharing, rental, and ride-hailing services to extend their digital reach, enhance customer experience, and unlock new revenue streams.
What is an OpenAPI and why does it matter?
An OpenAPI (or application programming interface) is a set of standardized protocols that allows external software systems to interact with your platform. In simple terms, it acts like a bridge between your mobility service and the outside world — enabling secure data sharing and functional integration.
For mobility businesses, OpenAPIs have become a key tool for:
- Displaying fleet availability in Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platforms
- Enabling ride or rental bookings directly from external platforms (websites, apps, kiosks)
- Automating back-office workflows and data pipelines
- Enhancing customer service tools with real-time ride information
What makes ATOM Mobility’s OpenAPI different?
While many mobility providers offer GBFS (General Bikeshare Feed Specification) to share read-only data (ATOM Mobility will continue supporting GBFS) - such as vehicle locations and availability - these feeds are typically limited to visibility. Users still need to switch to a provider's app to complete the ride.
ATOM Mobility’s OpenAPI is different. It offers full read-write access to the core functions of your platform - similar to what operators can already do in the back-office dashboard. This means that third-party apps can not only display your vehicles but also handle booking, payments, and ride management entirely within their own interface.
This is a game-changer for expanding your service footprint beyond your app.
What’s included in OpenAPI v1?
The first version of the OpenAPI supports all core modules — Vehicle sharing, Digital rental, and Ride-Hailing — with both public and private endpoints for:
- User registration and authentication
- Vehicle discovery and availability
- Zone rules, pricing, and ride logic
- Starting and ending rides or bookings
- Accessing ride history and user activity
- Enhanced actions: skip wallet checks, trigger some commands, bypass OTP, and more
Typical use cases
Here are some examples of how mobility operators are already planning to use the ATOM OpenAPI:
1. Deep MaaS platform integrations
Connect your fleet to fast-growing MaaS platforms, for example:
- umob - a Dutch mobility booking app that recently raised €3.5M to expand its "all-in-one" MaaS experience across Europe. With OpenAPI, your vehicles could be fully bookable and payable directly from their interface.
- Moovit – a mobility super-app used by over 1.7 billion riders in 3,500+ cities. Traditionally, Moovit displays vehicles using GBFS and redirects users to provider apps - with OpenAPI, the entire booking could happen inside Moovit.
- Jelbi (Berlin) - Germany’s flagship MaaS platform, integrating 12+ operators, including car-sharing, scooters, and public transport. A direct API integration offers visibility and usage on one of Europe’s most advanced multimodal networks.
2. Bookings via your website
Allow users to book rentals or ride directly from your website without needing to download an app upfront. This is especially useful for tourists, first-time users or hotels. The app would only be needed to unlock the vehicle or track the driver (in case of ride-hailing).
3. B2B partner integrations
Want to offer mobility through hotels, offices, or real estate platforms? Now they can show your vehicles and complete bookings within their apps - driving high-value B2B usage without manual overhead.
4. Customer support automation
Support agents can pull up a rider’s active trip data in external helpdesk tools using ride ID endpoints - improving efficiency and resolution speed.
5. Custom dashboards and analytics
Build your own reporting layer by pulling real-time and historical ride, user, and revenue data into tools like Power BI, Tableau, or custom CRMs.
How to enable the OpenAPI?
The OpenAPI is available to all ATOM clients on the Premium Plan, which includes:
- Access to full OpenAPI documentation and developer tools
- 100,000 API requests per month included in your support fee
- Technical assistance from the ATOM team for setup and testing
Ready to expand your mobility ecosystem?
Whether you’re exploring new channels, seeking B2B integrations, or joining a MaaS platform, the ATOM OpenAPI gives you the tools to scale faster and smarter. Want to learn more or schedule a call with our integrations team?
Contact us: https://www.atommobility.com/ask
Blog
Micro-mobility market consolidation heats up: ATOM Mobility acquires ScootAPI
In a significant move signaling further consolidation within the micro-mobility software sector, industry leader ATOM Mobility announced its strategic acquisition of ScootAPI. The deal, finalized on June 1, 2025, strengthens ATOM Mobility's dominant position in the B2B SaaS Micro-Mobility market.
June 16, 2025
min. read
In a significant move signaling further consolidation within the micro-mobility software sector, industry leader ATOM Mobility announced its strategic acquisition of ScootAPI.
The deal, finalized on June 1, 2025, strengthens ATOM Mobility's dominant position in the B2B SaaS Micro-Mobility market. This deal also marks a successful and timely exit for ScootAPI founder, George Kachanouski, who is already channeling his entrepreneurial energy into a new AI Venture in stealth mode for now.
For years, both ATOM Mobility and ScootAPI have been key players, providing essential software solutions for micro-mobility operators worldwide. This acquisition sees ATOM Mobility, led by CEO Arturs Burnins, proactively solidifying its market leadership. The move was driven by a strategic imperative to win the top spot in a competitive landscape by integrating ScootAPI’s valuable assets and client base.
About ATOM Mobility:
Founded in 2018 by Arturs Nikiforovs and CEO Arturs Burnins, ATOM Mobility empowers entrepreneurs to launch and scale mobility platforms worldwide, including vehicle sharing (scooters, bikes, mopeds, cars), digital rental, and ride-hailing businesses. With a suite of products including customizable rider apps, comprehensive dashboards, operator apps, and robust analytics, ATOM Mobility supports over 200 projects and 35,000 vehicles, facilitating over 1,000,000 rides monthly. The company is committed to providing reliable, agile, and well-designed technology with a strong focus on customer revenue growth and system stability, aiming to be the leader in B2B SaaS for micro-mobility.
About ScootAPI:
Founded in 2019 by CEO George Kachanouski, ScootAPI established itself as a significant player in the micro-mobility software space. The company delivered a robust white-label SaaS platform that empowered entrepreneurs and operators worldwide, successfully launching more than 50 distinct micro-mobility projects across diverse international markets. ScootAPI was dedicated to fostering 'smart' city transportation, thereby contributing to reduced CO2 emissions and an improved quality of urban life for communities worldwide.
"This is an acceleration moment for ATOM Mobility and the micro-mobility SaaS market as a whole," said Arturs Burnins, CEO of ATOM Mobility. "Acquiring ScootAPI aligns with our strategy to lead the industry and provide the most comprehensive, reliable, and innovative solutions to operators globally. We're excited to welcome ScootAPI’s clients into the ATOM Mobility platform, further accelerating the growth and efficiency of shared mobility worldwide."
For George, this move wasn't initially on his roadmap. He was invested in ScootAPI's growth. However, the recent explosion in AI technology sparked a new, compelling passion. “Selling ScootAPI wasn't something I was planning to do," George admitted. "We had built a good product, and the journey was far from over in my mind. But then the AI revolution really took off, and I found myself completely captivated by the potential of agentic workflows to automate business processes. The idea of building a new company in the AI space, something potentially even bigger and on a brand new frontier, became incredibly exciting."
As the transition moves ahead, George remains confident that ScootAPI's clients are in good hands. “ATOM Mobility has a clear vision and the technical depth to support operators long-term,” he said. “That was important to me. I didn’t want to hand things over to just anyone – I wanted to be sure the people relying on our platform would still be supported and able to grow.”
The integration of ScootAPI into ATOM Mobility promises a smooth transition for clients, who will now benefit from an expanded suite of features and robust support under the ATOM Mobility umbrella, further streamlining operations for micro-mobility entrepreneurs globally.
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