App-based car rental service Virtuo launches in London

Virtuo, a fully mobile car rental service, has been launched in London which lets customers book and access a premium Mercedes A-Class through the app. There is no paperwork, no long counter queues to collect and return a traditional rental car and no hidden fees.

Virtuo focuses on trips over 30 miles and costs from £35 per day. The London-based customer service team can be contacted directly through the app, any time of day or night.

The Virtuo app was hand selected by the Apple team as App of the Day on Saturday 14 July, which generated thousands of installs ahead of the launch.

Virtuo is already a success in France and Belgium, with rental services across nine major cities.

Karim Kaddoura, Co-founder of Virtuo, explains “We’re extremely proud and excited to be launching Virtuo in the UK today. We genuinely care about our customers and the experience they have with us, every step of the journey is designed to make using Virtuo the ultimate rental experience. We want our customers to be in control of their journey and our 24/7 bookings gives them exactly that, we put them in the driving seat.”

Michael Altom, General Manager Virtuo UK & Ireland, adds “The mobility market is changing at an unprecedented rate. After using our service, enjoying the customer support and the seamless experience, our customers won’t go back to traditional car rental companies or even own a car.”

The brand-new cars are available to book through the Virtuo app and pick up in five locations across London (London Victoria, London Waterloo, King’s Cross St Pancras, Marble Arch and Kensington). Users can simply download the Virtuo app, validate their account, book their car and be on the road in a matter of minutes.

The app’s early success attracted investment from one of Europe’s leading early stage investors in the future of mobility, Balderton Capital, having also been early investors in the likes of Citymapper and Carwow.