History
Zipcar was co-founded by Antje Danielson and Robin Chase based on existing German and Swiss companies in January 2000. In June 2000, the first Zipcars hit the road around Boston, MA. In September 2001, the Washington, D.C. office opened. In February 2002, New York City office opened In February 2003, Scott Griffith replaced Robin Chase as CEO. In April 2005, Zipcar partnered with XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) to provide satellite radio in all Zipcars. In July 2005, Zipcar secured $10 million in funding led by Benchmark Capital. In August 2005, San Francisco office opened. In May 2006, Toronto office opened. In May 2006, General Electric's Commercial Finance Fleet Services (NYSE: GE) gave Zipcar $20 million in lease line financing. In September 2006, Toronto market was named fastest growing new market in company history. In November 2006, London office opened. In April 2007, Vancouver office opened. In May 2007, XM Satellite Radio ended partnership with Zipcar and their radios are no longer available in Zipcars. In October 2007, Zipcar and Flexcar executives announce a merger of the two companies, with the Zipcar brand and headquarters replacing that of Flexcar.
On January 23, 2008, the merged Zipcar/Flexcar canceled service for the Southern California cities of Los Angeles and San Diego without providing advanced notice to customers in those areas. Southern California college operations were left intact. On July 11, 2008, Zipcar announced it doubled membership in past year, including the Flexcar members it acquired, and now had 225,000 members. On August 28, 2008, Rice University announced the introduction into the program in their goal of achieving as low of a carbon footprint as possible while providing additional transportation options for employees that carpool. On April 8, 2009, a partnership with Zimride was announced to allow Zipcar members to automatically post rides for carpooling on Zimride. On June 8, 2009, announced iPhone application at the Apple World Wide Developer Conference. The application is capable of honking the horn and unlocking some Zipcars.
Following impressive third-quarter results, CEO Scott Griffith announced that 2012 would mark Zipcar's "first full year of profitability on a US GAAP basis".
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