Hertz-backed Oro Mobility secures $80 million strategic investment

Hertz-backed Oro Mobility secured an $80 million strategic equity investment from Cohen Private Ventures, Certares Opportunities affiliates and Knighthead Capital Management affiliates, as Hertz seeks to develop the fleet-management business beyond its core car-rental operations.

The investment was announced Oct. 20, four days after Hertz and the investors entered a joint-venture arrangement. A Securities and Exchange Commission filing put the investors’ aggregate cash consideration at about $80.9 million for Class A common units bought from Hertz.

The consortium received 50% of Oro Mobility Holdings’ voting units, but only about 15.86% of its common units. Hertz retained majority economic ownership, while governance is split evenly through a six-member board, with each side appointing three directors.

Hertz agreed to continue providing corporate, operational, fleet, technology and other services under a services agreement, as well as leasing or subleasing vehicles used by Oro and its subsidiaries. Information-technology, corporate-security and systems-support functions are expected to shift to Oro within 12 months.

Before the investor purchase, Hertz transferred certain Oro business assets and about $60 million in cash to the company. The fleet lease arrangements call for roughly $13.7 million in monthly payments and have an average term of about 4.5 years.

Oro operates about 45,000 vehicles across major U.S. mobility markets. The company describes itself as an ownership, orchestration and operations layer linking vehicles, technology providers and consumer or demand platforms, with businesses in rideshare rentals, driver-led fleet management and autonomous-vehicle fleet management.

The new capital is intended to expand Oro’s fleet, operational infrastructure, technology, talent and strategic partnerships across those three lines. Hertz established Oro as part of a strategy to pursue growth beyond its traditional rental business.

Uber said Oro expects to launch autonomous-vehicle robotaxi operations later in 2026 using Lucid vehicles equipped with Nuro technology. Oro is set to provide day-to-day asset management for Uber’s autonomous fleet, including charging, maintenance, repairs, cleaning and depot staffing.

Services for Uber’s autonomous robotaxi program are expected to launch in the San Francisco Bay Area later this year. Hertz and Uber said they are also exploring opportunities to expand the autonomous service in 2027.