Yesterday I got an email from FlightCar announcing that they shut down all operations (as of July 14), and sold their tech to Mercedes-Benz R&D. No notice, no explanation, just shut it all down. FlightCar was the only company in the U.S. offering peer-to-peer car rentals at airports. People could drop their cars off when heading out of town, get free airport parking and earn some money when their car was rented. Travelers could find cars to rent at cheaper rates than with the commercial companies, conveniently available at the airport.
FlightCar’s most recent fundraising round netted over $20M last October, and they were expanding to new airports and getting lots of attention. I have no idea what happened. And I’m sad about this because their unique business model really worked well for me on short trips.
