| Website | limos.com |
| @limos | |
| Category | eCommerce |
| Phone | 800-660-7686 |
| Employees | 30 |
| Founded | 8/07 |
| Description | Like "Expedia" for Car Services |
| Total | $15M |
| Series A, 11/08 Canal Partners | $5M |
| Series B, 3/11 Austin Ventures | $10M |
Limos.com aims to be the Expedia of limo/car services.
SUMMARY We are the largest online comparison shopping marketplace for chauffeured car services worldwide, offering pre-screened car services for leisure and business travelers at specially-negotiated discounts up to 40% off standard rates. With our exclusive search technology and negotiating power, Limos.com consistently delivers more ways to save on car services than anyone else.
BACKGROUND Chauffeured car service is one of travel’s most challenging purchases in terms of finding trustworthy suppliers in cities worldwide, obtaining the best pricing, and booking with ease. We assembled former start-up team members from Hotwire.com to tackle this problem for both leisure and business travelers. We purchased Limos.com in late 2007 and completely re-developed the business to become an easy way to search, compare and book car services online, just as people love to do online with hotel rooms and airfares. For business travel, it’s been extremely challenging for companies to manage the car service category because travel managers don’t have access to advanced controls (like reporting and policy settings), which have been so successful in helping companies save millions in air and hotel expenditures (e.g., Concur Cliqbook, Egencia, Orbitz for Business). There is further market opportunity for Limos.com to serve the B2B market which consists of travel agents, concierges and local limo companies that want to provide their customers with worldwide ordering capability.
SOLUTION & INNOVATIONS We have achieved the following breakthroughs to bring our solution to market: 1) The world’s largest online competitive marketplace for limo/car services. Consumers can “go direct” to approximately 1,600 local limo companies that compete for each trip – typically saving the customer 30-40%. All limo services are pre-screened, customer-reviewed and covered by our $10mm insurance umbrella and 24-hour customer service. 2) Instant all-inclusive pricing, availability and bookings via a familiar online search experience. The car service market is highly fragmented, and pricing/availability for local car service companies is not generally available via Global Distribution Systems (e.g., Sabre, Worldspan). To access the local markets, we built what we believe is the world’s most advanced extranet and pricing algorithms for this category. Our member limo companies provide their service areas, vehicles, rate details and availability in our system. We then provide “all-inclusive†price quotes for customers that account for all service fees and gratuity, including estimated drive times and charges if applicable. We’ve integrated with industry-best third-party solutions for mapping and address resolution. 3) Corporate Travel Manager Solution. For the corporate travel manager, we built advanced online controls, including- comprehensive reporting, account management and traveler policy settings. We’ve made it easy for corporate travel agents and executive assistants to book car services for authorized travelers. 4) B2B Web Services API. Our web services platform is a full search-and-book API that allows private labeling of our services for use by travel agencies, concierges, eCommerce platforms and limo companies.
BUSINESS MODEL Our model is simple. Our services are free for customers – no booking fees. We charge our member limo companies fees for distribution via our business and leisure channels. We earn fees when limo companies are displayed to users in “retail†searches and we earn additional fees for bookings. We have been profitable every year since our launch in 2008.
