Venture Capital News: Booster Pulls In $20M Series B Round
2017-08-01
BURLINGAME, CA, Booster, the app-based mobile gas station, has raised $20 million in a Series B round that will be used to drive growth and enhance the core experience of gas delivered to your car.
NYC-based Conversion Capital led the round, with additional previous investors Maveron, Madrona Venture Group, Version One, Perot Jain LP, and RRE Ventures also participating. New investors include the Stanford-StartX Fund, BADR investments, and U.S. Venture, Inc. With this new funding round, Booster has raised a total of $32 million to transform the gas station market.
Booster delivers and pumps gas in office parking lots, using custom-built purple mini-tankers that easily navigate tight spaces. Customers request a 'boost' when they get to work, use the app to pin their car location, and get a full tank before they leave the office. Because Booster exclusively operates in lots where density is high, it provides customers free delivery and competitive pricing while covering operating costs.
"Booster is disintermediating a $500 billion, antiquated industry with a combination of unparalleled technology innovation, distribution efficiency, and regulatory expertise," said Christian Lawless, Managing Partner of Conversion Capital and new Booster board member. "Fuel consumption reached record highs in 2016. While autonomous and electric vehicles are certainly the future, last year more than 99% of all new autos sold in the U.S. ran on conventional fuels, a trend we don't see subsiding in the foreseeable future. We are proud to support Booster in its mission to provide a more consumer-friendly, safer, and sustainable refueling experience."
Booster is experiencing tremendous growth. Since it launched service less than two years ago, the company has delivered more than five million gallons of gas. Booster has become a highly sought-after perk at more than 300 large employers including Cisco, Oracle, Gilead, eBay, PepsiCo, Facebook, as well as most of the Fortune 100 companies based in Booster's service regions of Dallas-Fort Worth and the San Francisco Bay.
"We're thrilled with the confidence these strategic investors have in Booster's ability to solve the complex problem of developing a smart, consumer-friendly approach to modernizing the gas station experience," said Frank Mycroft, CEO, Booster Fuels. "The challenge is much more than developing an on-demand app; our full-stack implementation is built upon our proprietary transport equipment, supply procurement, routing algorithms, and mobile experiences. That's why we are bringing together the brightest minds to transform a daily hassle faced by the 99% of everyday consumers who are thrilled to save time and money and actually find this new way of buying gas to be a delightful experience."
In addition to being offered by major companies, leading commercial real estate owners recognize that Booster is an attractive benefit for large office parks to offer tenants. "Booster provides an efficient, time-saving service and we get wonderful feedback from our employees and tenants," said Christopher Peatross, President & Chief Executive Officer, Swift Realty Partners. "We request a refill from our cell phones and return to a full tank after work; it's incredibly convenient." Swift Realty Partners owns and manages six million square feet of office space in the San Francisco Bay Area.
One more benefit of using Booster is how it can help the environment. Each 'boost' reduces a vehicle's carbon footprint by eliminating unnecessary trips, relieving road congestion, and removing fuel transfer points from the supply chain. By using Booster, customers have eliminated over 630,000 miles of travel to date, equivalent to offsetting 234 tons of carbon.
One of Booster's customers, Mihir Vaze, shares: "I love the service. It saves me so much time and mental effort. Now I can drive straight home to see my family and new baby, without worrying about stopping for gas."
About Booster Fuels
Booster is the gas station that comes directly to your office parking spot, saving you time, money, and the hassle of the gas station errand. Booster provides high-quality gas at competitive prices with free same-day delivery. The app-based service is offered at hundreds of companies, office parks, and university campuses, as well as to commercial fleets in the San Francisco Bay and Greater Dallas-Fort Worth areas. Ten Fortune 100 companies offer Booster to their employees. The company has raised over $32 million in funding from such venture capital firms as Conversion Capital, Maveron, Madrona Venture Group, Version One, Stanford-StartX, and Perot Jain LP.
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