Softbank-backed car subscription startup Fair.com recently announced that it has appointed Bradley Stewart as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer.
Stewart joins the car subscription startup after being associated with aviation startup XOJet from 2013 to 2019 as Chairman and CEO. The company was later acquired by Vista Global.
Announcing his appointment on LinkedIn, Stewart said, “Thrilled to be joining the Fair.com team. The potential is enormous. Deeply committed to serving clients and building a special community in a world-class manner.”
Along with his appointment, Stewart also confirmed that Fair is trying to raise another round of funding including both equity and debt in an attempt to push ahead on its business now focused squarely on car subscriptions for consumers.
“As we pivot and scale, more capital will be needed to pursue that, to grow the market and for customer acquisition, and to allow us to buy more cars. That process is underway,” Stewart said, adding that despite everything going on in the market, there is still funding to be had.
“I was shocked by how it is going right now,” Stewart said.
Stewart’s appointment comes in the wake of a dramatic six months for Fair, which was once valued as high as $1.2 billion and has already raised hundreds of millions in debt and equity for a business built around the concept of subscription-style car usage, longer than typical rentals and shorter and with more flexible terms than your average lease.
Fair is another Softbank startup-like WeWork and Uber struggling with the lead investor due to its tight governance. Fair also underscores the bigger challenges faced by car startups around balancing user demand, cash burn, and a heavy asset load in the form of car inventory.
Stewart’s appointment comes after serial car-startup entrepreneur Scott Painter stepped down from his position, though he is still the Chairman of the company.
Softbank had appointed its CFA Adam Hieber as an interim CEO, who will now go back to being an operating partner at SoftBank and will also stay on Fair’s board.
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