Cargo’s Plan To Turn Cars Into Mobile Convenience Stores

Cargo, the startup that allows ridesharing drivers to sell food and beverages inside their vehicle, just landed $5.5 million in venture capital funding.

According to news from TechCrunch, the round of funding, which is being called “seed preferred financing,” will be added to the $1.75 million it raised in last summer. The latest influx of cash comes from CRCM Ventures and eighteen94 capital, which is Kellogg’s venture capital fund. TechCrunch noted that Kellogg has been a customer of Cargo, using the startup to offer passengers free samples of the brand’s products. The companies using Cargo, which include Mars Wrigley and Red Bull, pay a marketing fee and receive data about where their products were given. The data is anonymous, TechCrunch stated.

“Cargo represents eighteen94 capital fund’s first channel investment. We see huge potential in the new consumer touchpoint within the passenger economy that Cargo is developing,” Simon Burton, managing director of eighteen94 capital, said in a statement to TechCrunch. “Cargo provides brands with innovative opportunities to connect to the consumer in their moment of need.”

Cargo also sells goods that customers can pay for in addition to the freebies it gives out. Drivers typically get a 25 percent commission on each of the orders that are paid for, plus $1 base commission for every order, including free products. TechCrunch noted that average driver earnings are $100 to $115 each month, but top drivers are making as much as $275 a month.

Revenue is currently split between Cargo selling items directly to passengers and inking deals with brands. The goal of the startup, according to TechCrunch, is to put its hardware and software into around 20,000 vehicles, launching in one new city each month for the next six months. At that point, it will aim to raise more funding to hit the 100,000 car mark.