Daimler acquires interest in startup company tiramizoo

September 21, 2012

  • Strategic partnership with the pioneer in the field of
    online services for local urban deliveries
  • Daimler has acquired a minority interest
  • Networking of local urban mobility and transport services creates comprehensive and efficient portfolio

Daimler AG has acquired a minority interest in tiramizoo GmbH, a Munich-based startup company in the field of mobility services. tiramizoo pioneered a new business segment when it launched a year ago with a fully automated online booking platform for local urban delivery services in Munich. Today, customers in another ten major German cities can book local courier and delivery services through tiramizoo.

Daimler is the market leader in the short-term car rental sector with car2go, which currently has 150,000 registered customers, and has held an interest in MyTaxi through car2go since the beginning of 2012. In July 2012, Daimler launched the moovel mobility platform in the greater Stuttgart area and acquired a holding in carpooling.com, the world’s largest car-sharing network.

The strategic partnership between Daimler and tiramizoo will allow the two companies to concentrate their know-how in the field of innovative mobility services. Their objective is to work together to develop the online platform of tiramizoo and to extend it both nationally and internationally. Close cooperation between the two companies will create a comprehensive and efficient portfolio of activities through the networking of local urban mobility and transport services.

With its network currently comprising more than 1200 couriers, tiramizoo is able to offer flexible access to local courier services and can identify suitable service providers for all its users in real time. Use of tiramizoo can also be combined with other mobility services. The synergies which are created in this way can help to relieve urban traffic congestion.

“Our participation in tiramizoo will help to drive the intelligent networking of mobility in urban areas”, said Wilfried Steffen, head of Business Innovation at Daimler AG. “We want to optimise the utilisation of transport capacity and create a new service offering significant customer benefits.”

“We are delighted that we have been able to get Daimler on board as an investor in tiramizoo. The arrival of this leading automaker means that we have a strong partner in the field of mobility. We shall use the new capital to step up our sales activities and to continue the development of our technology”, commented Michael Löhr, founder and managing director of tiramizoo.

“It’s great that Tiramizoo was able to win Daimler AG as an investor and strategic partner.  High-Tech Gründerfonds is excited about the partnership potential and look forward to working even closer with our fund investor Daimler.”, added Curtis MacDonald, Investmentmanager with High-Tech Gründerfonds.

In making local delivery services available online, tiramizoo is supporting the optimisation of the flow of goods in densely populated areas by allowing courier drivers to take on additional orders which help improve their capacity utilisation on delivery rounds. Using GPS tracking, tiramizoo’s innovative technology can  determine the ideal courier and optimal route for every delivery.

Extended booking functionality means that now, for the first time, both local vendors and online platforms have access to suitable couriers for same-day deliveries. The services offered by tiramizoo complement those of existing nationwide express operators by enabling same-day deliveries – in a given time window or even within 90 minutes – from the locally held inventory of online shops.

In addition to Daimler, the shareholders in tiramizoo comprise the company’s founders, Michael Löhr, Volker Schneider and Philipp Walz, investors Burkhard Blum and Dirk Reiche as well as High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital. Further information from Daimler is available at: www.media.daimler.com  and www.daimler.com

About Daimler
Daimler AG is one of the world’s most successful automotive companies. With its divisions Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services, the Daimler Group is one of the biggest producers of premium cars and the world’s biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles with a global reach. Daimler Financial Services provides financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance and innovative mobility services.The company’s founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history with the invention of the automobile in the year 1886. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, Daimler continues to shape the future of mobility today: The Group’s focus is on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and superior automobiles that appeal to and fascinate its customers. For many years now, Daimler has been investing continually in the development of alternative drive systems with the goal of making emission-free driving possible in the long term. So in addition to vehicles with hybrid drive, Daimler now has the broadest range of locally emission-free electric vehicles powered by batteries and fuel cells. This is just one example of how Daimler willingly accepts the challenge of meeting its responsibility towards society and the environment. Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly all the countries of the world and has production facilities on five continents. Its current brand portfolio includes, in addition to the world’s most valuable premium automotive brand, Mercedes-Benz, the brands smart, Maybach, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, Fuso, Setra and Thomas Built Buses. The company is listed on the stock exchanges of Frankfurt and Stuttgart (stock exchange symbol DAI). In 2011, the Group sold 2.1 million vehicles and employed a workforce of more than 271,000 people; revenue totaled €106.5 billion and EBIT amounted to €8.8 billion.

About tiramizoo
tiramizoo GmbH is one of the most innovative logistics platforms in Germany and is the country’s leading operator in the local logistics sector. A fundamental factor in the company’s success is its proprietary software which places particular emphasis on providing a delivery service which is not just efficient, but ecological and environmentally responsible, too. Local deliveries are revolutionised by the new tiramizoo technology. Customers experience an inexpensive, reliable and particularly fast service. The company is headed by Michael Löhr, who, together with Volker Schneider and Philipp Walz, founded tiramizoo GmbH in 2010. Also on the management team is Gregor Melhorn, who is responsible for technology development. The shareholders in tiramizoo GmbH are Daimler AG, Ambleside Ventures (Michael Löhr), Davenport Invest (Burkhard Blum), Stawamus Ventures (Volker Schneider) as well as Philipp Walz, Dirk Reiche, Gregor Melhorn, High-Tech-Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital.

About High-Tech Gruenderfonds
High-Tech Gruenderfonds invests in young, high potential high-tech start-ups. The seed financing provided is designed to enable start-ups to take an idea through prototyping and to market launch. Typically, High-Tech Gruenderfonds invests EUR 500,000 in the seed stage, with the potential for up to a total of EUR 2 million per portfolio company in follow-on financing. Investors in this public/private partnership include the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the KfW Banking Group, as well as fourteen industrial groups of ALTANA, BASF, B. Braun, Robert Bosch, CEWE Color, Daimler, Deutsche Post DHL, Deutsche Telekom, Evonik, Qiagen, RWE Innogy, SAP, Tengelmann and Carl Zeiss. High-Tech Gruenderfonds has about EUR 565,5 million under management in two funds (EUR 272 million HTGF I, EUR 293,5 million HTGF II).

Press Contact:
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Stefanie Zillikens – Marketing & Communications Manager
Schlegelstraße 2 – 53113 Bonn
phone: +49 228 823001-07 – fax: +49 228 823000-50
s.zillikens@htgf.de
www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de

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