Ride

What Ride does

RIDE, Inc. (라이드 주식회사) is a South Korea-based mobility commerce platform founded in December 2020 by Mincheol Lee, a former Tesla Korea Chief Operating Officer. The company operates a vertically integrated automotive distribution and lifecycle services platform organized around three product lines: RIDE NOW (online vehicle sales, paid EV test drives, and multi-brand showroom operations), RIDE CARE (vehicle maintenance subscriptions, accident management, and door-to-door servicing delivered through a 1,200+ affiliated workshop network), and RIDE CONTENTS (B2B automotive training, consulting, and content production for OEMs including BMW, Renault, and Jaguar Land Rover). The technology stack includes the RIDE NOW mobile application (iOS/Android, ranked #1 in Google Play Automotive at launch in December 2021), a proprietary in-house fleet management ERP, a digital contract system enabling vehicle purchase without physical documentation, and an AI-based vehicle recommendation engine under development.

The company serves a dual customer base: B2C consumers seeking transparent, dealer-free vehicle purchase and lifecycle services — with RIDE NOW app membership exceeding 160,000 users — and B2B clients including fleet operators (approximately 60,000 vehicles under annual maintenance contracts), rental car companies, financial institutions, and automotive brands (KGM, Polestar, Renault, Alpine, BMW, JLR). Revenue is generated through a diversified mix: vehicle sales margins (priced 2-3% below traditional dealers by eliminating the ~3% dealer commission), recurring maintenance subscriptions, B2B training and content contracts, transaction fees from paid EV test drives (which generated approximately 2 billion KRW in their first year), and emerging streams from a battery-as-a-service subscription partnership with PM Grow. The go-to-market combines a self-serve mobile app, co-branded online microsites (e.g., KGM Experience Center), direct B2B sales, and planned 24/7 multi-brand showrooms.

The company has raised cumulative funding of approximately 65 billion KRW (~48M USD) across seed (12 billion KRW, January 2022), pre-seed (cumulative 25 billion KRW by February 2023), and a 40 billion KRW Series A in January 2025 led by IMM Investment with follow-on from Infobank. Two strategic acquisitions — Sky Auto Service in July 2023 (100% merger, ~11 billion KRW recognized value) and GMC Company in January 2024 — built the maintenance and training pillars. RIDE achieved 4x revenue growth in 2025 versus 2024 (company-claimed target of 800+ billion KRW) and crossed into operating profitability in its fifth year of operation. The company is preparing for a KOSDAQ IPO with Shinhan Investment Securities as lead underwriter.

Name

Ride

Legal name

라이드 주식회사 RIDE, Inc.

Website

https://rideoffice.kr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

RIDE, Inc. is a South Korean mobility commerce platform offering dealer-free online vehicle sales (RIDE NOW), subscription-based maintenance across 1,200+ workshops (RIDE CARE), and automotive training content (RIDE CONTENTS), serving B2C consumers, B2B fleet operators, and OEM brands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Seocho

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Vehicle Sales (New Car Commerce): RIDE sells new vehicles directly through its platform as an authorized dealer, offering vehicles from KGM, Polestar, Alpine, and planned expansion to other brands. Revenue from vehicle sales margin, priced 2-3% below traditional dealers.
2. Vehicle Maintenance & Subscription Services: Subscription-based vehicle maintenance for both B2B fleet operators (financial/rental companies) and B2C consumers. Door-to-door maintenance visits. Annual maintenance of approximately 60,000 fleet vehicles for financial companies.
3. RIDE CONTENTS (Training & Content): B2B automotive training and consulting services. Creates branded content for sales training, product education, and marketing. Delivers content to sales staff of BMW, Renault, Jaguar Land Rover, and others. Revenue from B2B training contracts.
4. Battery Subscription (PM Grow Partnership): Battery subscription service for EV buyers, enabling reduced upfront vehicle cost by separating battery ownership. Revenue model involves service fees from facilitating battery-as-a-service.
5. EV Test-Drive Service: Paid EV test-drive service — the company's first validated revenue stream generating approximately 2 billion KRW in first year of launch.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

RIDE operates a multi-brand online automotive commerce platform (RIDE NOW) that enables consumers to discover, test-drive, and purchase new vehicles digitally without dealer negotiation, priced 2-3% below traditional dealers. The company also provides subscription-based vehicle maintenance and care services (RIDE CARE) through a nationwide network of 1,200+ workshops, and B2B automotive training and content production (RIDE CONTENTS) for brands such as BMW, Renault, and Jaguar Land Rover.

Product overview

Ride operates as a unified mobility commerce platform composed of three core service pillars: RIDE NOW (online vehicle sales), RIDE CARE (vehicle maintenance and care management), and RIDE CONTENTS (automotive education and training). The RideNow mobile app serves as the consumer-facing interface for EV test-drives and vehicle purchases. The platform combines vehicle sales, post-purchase care, and educational content into a single integrated ecosystem, supported by an expanding portfolio of B2B dealership agreements with brands including KGM, Polestar, Renault, and Alpine A110.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RIDE NOW: Mobility auto commerce platform for online vehicle purchase, test-drive services, and multi-brand showroom.
• RIDE CARE
• RIDE CONTENTS

Products and services

• RIDE NOW Mobility auto commerce platform enabling consumers to browse, test-drive, compare, and purchase new vehicles (including EVs from KGM, Polestar, Alpine) through a mobile app and online storefront, with digital contracts, real-time price simulation, and door-to-door delivery.
• RIDE CARE All-in-one mobility care platform providing scheduled vehicle maintenance, accident management, door-to-door service, EV charger management, and 24/7 call center support for both individual consumers and corporate fleet owners, delivered through a nationwide network of 1,200+ affiliated workshops.
• RIDE CONTENTS Integrated content solutions including automotive sales training, BTL marketing, product education, and media/video production delivered to automotive brands such as BMW, Renault, and Jaguar Land Rover.
• RideNow Mobile App Consumer-facing mobile application providing EV and new car test-drive booking, online vehicle purchase, and access to RIDE NOW, RIDE CARE, and RIDE CONTENTS services. Available on iOS App Store and Google Play Store.
• Fleet Management ERP Service B2B subscription maintenance and fleet management service covering approximately 60,000 fleet vehicles for financial institutions and rental car companies, including accident reporting, professional consultation, maintenance management, vehicle management, settlement, and resource operations delivered through RIDE's in-house ERP with proprietary server infrastructure.
• EV Battery Subscription Service Subscription-based battery-as-a-service for EV buyers, in partnership with PM Grow, enabling reduced upfront vehicle cost by separating battery ownership, with battery diagnostic management and lifecycle optimization, applied initially to RIDE's 500-vehicle EV fleet.

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered strategic, minor, core and operational.

• Inventis (인벤티스)strategicTechnology or Integration · 1 February 2026Strategic MOU to combine RIDE's platform and service operations experience with Inventis's dealer operations and maintenance process digitalization and SaaS solution technology. Inventis provides AI-powered data collection, integration, and automation systems to ~2,500 global dealers worldwide. The partnership aims to enhance customer experience and operational efficiency in vehicle distribution.
• Korea Broadcasting Artists Association (한국방송예술인단체연합회)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 December 2025Marketing partnership agreement signed for mutual support. KBS Artists Association will provide broadcasting artist support for RIDE's marketing and promotional activities. RIDE will provide its services (test drives, vehicle access) when the association holds film production, conferences, or press events. Association has approximately 20,000 members.
• KGM (KG Mobility)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 February 2025RIDE was selected as KGM's official online procurement and sales dealership partner — the first online purchase dealership agreement in Korea. RIDE operates the KGM Experience Center microsite and can sell all KGM models including Musso EV directly to consumers.
• PM Grow (피엠그로우)strategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025MOU signed to offer EV battery subscription service, enabling consumers to purchase EVs at approximately 50% reduced upfront cost by separating battery ownership. PM Grow provides battery diagnostic management and lifecycle optimization. RIDE will apply battery subscription to its EV fleet starting with 500 vehicles.
• Renault Korea (르노)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2024RIDE operates Renault's test drive centers under a consulting agreement and serves as the official sales agent for Alpine A110 vehicles (Renault Group's high-performance brand) in Korea.
• GMC Company ((구)지엠씨)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Acquired through M&A in January 2024. GMC is an automotive education and consulting company established in 2008, having completed over 1,400 global projects for major Korean and international automotive brands. Provides RIDE's training and consulting content business (RIDE CONTENTS) infrastructure.
• Polestar Korea (폴스타코리아)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 December 2023RIDE secured an exclusive B2B dealership agreement with Polestar Korea for selling Polestar vehicles in Korea.
• Sky Auto Service ((구)스카이오토서비스)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2023100% M&A completed in July 2023. One of Korea's leading vehicle maintenance companies with nationwide network of ~1,100 repair workshops, annual revenue over 6 billion KRW, and ~10% operating profit margin. Company valuation recognized at approximately 11 billion KRW during acquisition. Provides RIDE's maintenance and repair infrastructure (RIDE CARE).
• Meritz Insurance (메리츠화재)operationalOthersListed as third-party personal information sharing partner for auto insurance service processing. Provides vehicle insurance claims support for RIDE customers involved in accidents.
• Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (삼성화재)operationalOthersListed as third-party personal information sharing partner for auto insurance service processing.
• DB Insurance (DB손해보험)operationalOthersListed as third-party personal information sharing partner for auto insurance service processing.
• Hana Non-Life Insurance (하나손해보험)operationalOthersListed as third-party personal information sharing partner for auto insurance service processing.
• Amazon Web Services Korea (아마존웹서비시즈코리아)operationalOthersIT system operations and personal information storage — cloud infrastructure provider for RIDE's platform.
• KG Inicis (KG이니시스)operationalOthersElectronic payment service provider enabling payment processing on the RIDE platform.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Carsome: Southeast Asia's largest used car online marketplace with integrated inspection, financing, and after-sales services. Comparable to RIDE in layering digital discovery, transaction, and post-purchase care, though RIDE is more concentrated in new vehicles and B2B fleet services.
• Carvana: US online used car retailer pioneering direct-to-consumer vehicle sales, fixed transparent pricing, and integrated financing/delivery. Closest Western analog to RIDE NOW's dealer-bypass, lowest-price, app-based sales thesis; differs in geography and used-car mix.
• Droom: India's online automobile marketplace for new and used vehicles with vehicle inspection, financing, and ecosystem services. Comparable in building a full-stack auto-commerce platform with adjacent maintenance/insurance offerings in a single Asian market.
• Auto1 Group: Europe's leading digital automotive platform for buying and selling used cars via a B2B and B2C marketplace plus integrated remarketing. Comparable to RIDE in using a technology-led, dealer-bypass model to restructure vehicle distribution.
• Carro: Singapore-headquartered online automotive marketplace that retails new and used cars across Southeast Asia, offers financing, and runs a full-stack sales-and-service model. Directly comparable to RIDE NOW's digital dealer-bypass, multi-brand sales, and post-purchase service bundle.

Regional players

• Encar: Korea's dominant used car online marketplace, owned by SK Networks, providing listings, inspections, and financing. Direct Korean competitive reference for online car discovery and transaction, though focused on used vehicles rather than RIDE's new-vehicle and B2B fleet mix.
• Hyundai Capital: Korean captive auto finance and leasing arm of Hyundai Motor Group, serving both retail and corporate fleet customers. Comparable in operating the B2B fleet/leasing business that RIDE services on the maintenance side, representing a key customer category for RIDE CARE.

Broad incumbents

• Cox Automotive: US-based global automotive services group offering dealer software, remarketing, fleet, and financing solutions. Comparable to RIDE in the B2B fleet and dealer-software layers (especially given the Inventis SaaS angle) rather than the consumer sales layer.
• CarGurus: US-based leading car shopping marketplace with listings, price transparency, and dealer-lead-generation tools. Comparable to the discovery and price-comparison layer of RIDE NOW, though without the integrated sales and maintenance stack.

Others

• Polestar: EV OEM with a direct-to-consumer sales model. RIDE holds an exclusive B2B Polestar dealership in Korea; Polestar's DTC model and RIDE's platform both target dealer-bypass distribution, making them strategic partners and a directional competitive reference.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ride-ridenow
• Instagraminstagram.com/ridenow_official

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ride