MyTripCar says it is not just another car rental comparison site – with transparency around pricing its main message to potential customers.

The Spain-based company has been backed by its own country’s national tourism department and has a trio of car rental analysts with a combined experience in the field of more than 30 years.

Its core proposition is around showing every cost associated with a product at the beginning of a search, rather than adding bits and pieces as the user moves through the booking process.

Here is a short video demo:

Q&A with CEO Fernando Almenara:

What problem does your business solve?

MyTripCar is reinventing car hire comparison by offering a level of information – and transparency – unseen in any other broker, saving customers significant amounts of money in their car hire reservation, putting an end to the old comparison websites full of hidden costs scenario that results in extra expenses and dissatisfied car rental experiences.

Car rental brands love our value proposition, because MyTripCar helps them show their products comparing price but also qualitative value, so the user can choose if they prefer lower prices with more queue time, or more accurate service paying a little bit more.

Names of founders, their management roles, and number of full-time paid staff?

The company was founded by Fernando Almenara, (CEO), Julia Martinez, (Communications Manager), and Alberto Verdoy, (Chief Product Officer) MyTripCar has 12 full-time paid staff.

Funding arrangements?

We’ve completed a seed round with investors such as Telco giant Telefonica (through their start-up accelerator, Wayra), several business angels, and public funds from Spain’s Tourism Ministry (Emprendetur) and from regional government (IVACE), all amounting to 400.000€

Revenue model?

MyTripCar takes a commission on all reservations made through its site.

Unlike other car comparison sites who offer their own insurance, MyTripCar only offers each car company’s insurance, ensuring that customers get the best deal possible through the company they hire from, and hence avoiding any conflicts of interests when they go to pick their car up.

Why do you think the pain point you’re solving is painful enough that customers are willing to pay for your solution?

Every year holidaymakers around the world are subject to unfair practices, hidden costs, and car rental scams, because the comparison websites misinform them, make difficult to them to compare and as result, the user ends with unexpected costs to their rental, making their holidays more expensive and more often than not, ruining them.

Car rental companies are victim,s too, because more than 80% of leisure rentals are made through this comparison websites.

MyTripCar gives the user and rental companies the honesty, transparency and trustworthiness framework they deserve and want. This is without doubt the future of car hire.

External validation? (Examples: The incubators/accelerators you have been accepted to, the mentors who are advising you, the number of customers you’ve signed, the marketing partner deals you’ve made, the skills/connections of your founders, etc.)

• Selected by Spanish Telco giant Telefonica’s start-up divisions Open Future/Wayra
• Supported by the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Tourism
• Leading car rental companies signed including Europcar, InterRent, Sixt, Hertz, Firefly, Enterprise and several regional companies
• Founding partners’ proven track record in the car rental industry having build up one of the leading car rental companies.

Tnooz view:

Transparency has obviously (and often legally) become an important factor across the travel product range when it comes to offering price comparison to consumers.

Yet not every brand gets it right.

Consumer groups have pushed for the regulators to tighten the rules in air ticket search, for example, meaning that providers must display the full cost of a ticket.

Going out with such a strong message, as in the case of MyTripCar, is a solid start for a new business, and one that could resonate with travellers who are continually irritated that they never truly get the full picture around the price of a car rental until the second, third or fourth step in the booking process.

But similar to every new consumer-facing travel brand, MyTripCar’s overwhelming challenge will be to get users in the front door in the first place.

Marketing costs will be high, especially in adwords.

Another factor to consider will be figuring out how to replace the existing providers that have managed to get themselves as white label providers on countless airline and airport websites – one of the key places where passengers often go to when looking for a car rental immediately after booking an air ticket.