- By Dougal Shaw
- Business reporter, BBC News
Andy Hibbert founded Karshare in 2016 but it folded this year
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said recently he wants to make the UK more like Silicon Valley, so “people are unafraid to give up the security of a regular pay cheque to start [a business] – and be comfortable with failure”.
London-based entrepreneur Andy Hibbert did just that in 2016 when he set up Karshare, which he describes as “like Airbnb, but for car sharing”. The business failed this year.
Like so many, it was hit by the double impact of Covid followed by the Ukraine war – but it also came up against a more unusual and unsavoury problem.
Karshare was Mr Hibbert’s first start-up. Prior to that he had a successful career in the travel industry, working for British Airways, EasyJet and corporate travel agency Reed & Mackay.
The idea for Karshare was inspired by a trip to the US, where he had a bad car-hire experience and noticed the impact of Airbnb.
What if you could rent out your car to tourists visiting your country when you left it at the airport?…
