Vienna-based company Eloop has announced the end of its electric car-sharing service, citing financial challenges and a shift in focus towards asset tokenisation. The company, known for its fleet of around 200 Teslas, will dissolve the fleet following a restructuring process.
Eloop’s decision comes amid struggles with drastically increased interest rates and high operating costs, exacerbated by a recent rise in vehicle damage, including total losses. Leroy Hofer, CEO and co-founder of Eloop, explained to Austrian newspaper Der Standard that the company will file for bankruptcy to reorganise and save as many jobs as possible.
Eloop will now focus on its service as a provider for tokenisation, with plans for this division to become the company’s main business in the future. Hofer highlighted the potential of the tokenisation platform, which allows companies to represent revenue-generating assets as digital assets. This enables direct interaction with communities and the financing of projects through them.
Despite the shift in focus, Eloop’s tokenisation platform is still in its early stages, with the first demo version released. While several projects have been initiated, none have been realised yet.
Eloop initially launched its EV sharing service in 2019 with 20 vehicles and expanded the fleet to 200 Tesla Model 3s following a financing round in 2021. However, the high funding requirements and subsequent financing rounds were not sufficient to sustain the business model. The token model gained attention during the most recent financing round, which saw Swiss energy service provider Energie 360° invest €1.5 million in Eloop.
