After raising more than $100 million in a Series B round co-led by funds Valor Capital Group and Prosus Ventures, Brazilian car rental startup Kovi has announced a BRL 5 million investment and partnership with Zanzar, an ad tech focused on in-car media. Through the partnership, Zanzar is expected to install more than 5,500 screens/tablets in Kovi’s vehicles by December, reaching more than 12 million people monthly.
Founded in 2018 by Herbert Viana, Alysson Antonio Alves e Alves, Rodrigo Longuinho, and Luiz Felipe Gaia, Zanzar bets on the advertising potential of the thousands of cars used by ride-hailing apps and offers high-resolution screens installed inside the cars to broadcast information and entertainment content, advertising, and games.
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The product is a kind of DOOH (digital out of home) media. Another example are the monitors installed on cars to run ads in places with a large number of people – a model implemented by Mobees, another Brazilian startup that installs LED panels on the cars’ roof. The main difference is that Zanzar’s product is installed inside the cars and focuses on interaction with passengers. Viana, CEO of Zanzar, explains that in Brazil the market is still poorly explored and that the startup wants to position itself as a leader in this niche.
We have a growth avenue to be explored since no major player focuses on ride-hailing apps’ cars. There is a lot of attention to subway, bus, and airplane media, but not much to the channels that can be run in cars. The segment is still incipient but has great potential. We want a share of the OOH market that has grown because of DOOH, engaging brands in the mobility ecosystem.
Herbert Viana, Zanzar’s CEO
According to the co-founder, the idea behind the Zanzar product is to combine the reach of OOH media with digital media resources, such as interactivity, segmentation, geolocation, message customization and e-commerce. The “Zanzar TV”, as it is called, has high definition image and audio and enables, in addition to the broadcasting of video and text content, the presentation of gamified content and quizzes, the use of QR Code and products sale.
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“The product reaches a segmented audience and offers a unique experience to the passenger. We have a wide coverage because of the circulation of cars, and ride-hailing apps are accessible, so they reach all kinds of audiences. It’s an alternative for brand engagement,” Viana explained. Brands such as TIM, Banco Inter, Volkswagen, Boticário, BMW, Claro, Unimed, among others, as well as smaller advertisers, through the geolocation and segmentation feature, have already advertised on Zanzar screens.
The Zanzar TV content menu is divided into theme channels (Services, Entertainment, Sports, Gastronomy, and Economy/News). The startup selects the programming to ensure quality and variety. “We also have information about flight schedules, cultural agenda, traffic, horoscopes… Passengers can also entertain themselves with interactive games, quizzes, and others,” Viana said.
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Zanzar currently operates in Belo Horizonte city, with tablets installed in 300 cars. Through the partnership with Kovi, 5,500 tablets will be installed in the vehicles in advance. “This already puts us among the three largest players in the Brazilian market. We expect to generate more than 12 million impacts/views, with low dispersion, segmentation, and data capture,” Viana said. Zanzar now plans to start a national expansion starting in the second semester.
According to Kovi, adding the Zanzar product to its offer improves the urban mobility experience for passengers and brings a series of advantages for drivers, starting with safety, since the screens are monitored and geolocated. In addition, there is no cost to the driver: the screens are offered on a loan basis and the device has a chip that is used to update content and advertising media. Also, drivers will have access to the Zanzar program of discounts and benefits at gas stations, pharmacies, and other establishments.
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“The investment adds as much value to the experience of our driver-partners and their passengers as it does to data collection and analysis, which is at the core of our business and allows us to make more assertive decisions,” Bruno Poljokan, CRO of Kovi, said.
