Car-sharing platform Zoomcar terminates CEO Greg Moran

Greg-Moran,-CEO-&-Co-founder,-Zoomcar terminated from role

Zoomcar co-founder Greg Moran has been terminated as CEO after a 12-year tenure, the Bengaluru-based car rental company announced in a regulatory filing.

According to sources, the firm has been under regulatory review concerning the market price of its Nasdaq-listed shares and its revenue projections.

The board has appointed Hiroshi Nishijima, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, as the interim chief executive officer.

"On June 20, 2024, Greg Moran, the company’s chief executive officer, was terminated from his role. Pursuant to Moran’s employment agreement, Moran is required to resign from the Board of Directors of the company as a result of such termination," read SEC filings as of June 21.

On the same date of CEO's termination, the firm also disclosed raising $3 million from institutional investors.

"Zoomcar Holdings Inc entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional accredited investors pursuant to which the company issued and sold an aggregate of $3,600,000 in principal amount of notes  and warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 52,966,102 shares of company common stock for gross proceeds of $3,000,000. The closing occurred on June 20," the SEC filings showed.

On February 5, SEC filings showed that the regulator sought clarity on the firm's revenue projections.

"We note that the projected revenues for 2023 were $21.6 million, as set forth in the analysis of financial advisors and in connection with the evaluation of the business combination. We also note that your actual revenues for the year ended March 31, 2023 were $8.8 million. It appears that you will miss your 2023 revenue projection," the filings said.

On LinkedIn, Moran wrote that this week marks the end of a decade-plus journey at the helm building Zoomcar. "I couldn't be more proud of what we've built in India and beyond as we introduced the power of car sharing to millions of new consumers across countless cities. Special shoutout to the entire Zoomcar team and our loyal customers for the continuous support along the way," he wrote.

Zoomcar was founded in 2013 by Greg Moran and David Back. The Bengaluru-headquartered company provides car rental services, where customers can rent vehicles on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Zoomcar has attracted investments from Peak XV, Ford Smart Mobility, Nexus Venture Partners, Mahindra & Mahindra and other Angel Investors.

ET Prime reported the developments first.

In 2023, Zoomcar completed its merger with blank-check company Innovative International Acquisition CorpM (IOAC) through a SPAC deal and was listed on the Nasdaq.

As per reports, the merger with the special purpose acquisition company implies a pro forma enterprise value of about $456 million for the business. Before the firm's move to go for a public listing, it has raised more than $400 million in funding.