• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechUber Technologies

Popular Car Rental Service for Uber and Lyft Drivers Suspends Operations

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 21, 2016, 8:17 AM ET
Uber
Photograph by Al Seib — LA Times via Getty Images

Breeze, a San Francisco startup that leases cars to drivers for Uber, Lyft, and delivery services, has suspended its service, according to the company’s website.

Born ZephyrCar in late 2013, Breeze’s business model was to lease out cars, by the week, to people who want to work for ride-hailing or delivery services like Instacart and Postmates. Starting in San Francisco, the startup eventually expanded to a total of six U.S. markets, including Los Angeles, Seattle, and Boston.

However, it appears that after more than two years, the company’s car leasing service has hit a wall.

“Due to recent business developments and broader market trends, we at Breeze have made the difficult decision to suspend our car leasing program,” a message on its website’s home page reads. The company is no longer accepting new customers, but current ones will remain unaffected.

Instead, Breeze is now shifting its focus on the car fleet management software it built to operate its service, and will license it out to other companies, Breeze told Fortune in a statement via email. The company plans to make layoffs as part of this shift, it said.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

“The auto space is barely recognizable from when Breeze launched two years ago,” co-founder and CEO Ned Ryan said in a statement sent to Fortune. “With the rapid development of shared vehicles and autonomous technology, it has become clear to Breeze that the best value we can provide to the industry is through our fleet management software.”

When Breeze began operating, ride-hailing services like Sidecar, Lyft, and UberX, which involve regular people ferrying passengers using their own cars, were relatively new. Lyft and the now-defunct Sidecar launched in the summer of 2012, with UberX, Uber’s version of the service, following later that year. For Breeze’s co-founders, two of whom had previously worked at Uber and cleaning startup Homejoy, it was the perfect opportunity: Help the companies recruit more drivers by renting cars to folks without one.

Eventually, both Uber and Lyft debuted their own programs for leasing and renting out cars to their drivers, likely taking away a lot of Breeze’s business. Today, Uber offers both longer term car leases as well as short-term rentals through partnerships with car rental companies Hertz (HTZ) and Enterprise. Lyft inked a deal with Hertz last year, and in early 2016, General Motors (GM) began offering rental cars to Lyft drivers as part of its investment in and partnership with the ride-hailing company. Competing services like HyreCar and Evercar also sprouted up.

For more on the partnerships, watch:

It’s still unclear what exactly prompted Breeze’s decision to abandon its car lease service, though the language of its goodbye message and Ryan’s statement hints it was likely due to difficulties sustaining the business. Just a week ago, Ryan penned a column for tech news blog TechCrunch about the future of car ownership, in which he points out the immense role of financing in today’s car market and the changing car ownership models.

Breeze was founded by Ryan Jeffrey Pang and Charlie Fang. The company was initially bootstrapped, though it eventually raised an undisclosed amount from Mark Cuban in 2014. According to startup database CrunchBase, Breeze has raised a total of $12.7 million. Pang left the company in the fall of 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The story has been updated with additional information and statements from Breeze.

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

AIpalantir
New contract shows Palantir is working on a tech platform for another federal agency that works with ICE
By Jessica MathewsDecember 9, 2025
4 hours ago
Databricks CEO speaking on stage.
AIBrainstorm AI
Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi says his company will be worth $1 trillion by doing these three things
By Beatrice NolanDecember 9, 2025
4 hours ago
AIBrainstorm AI
CoreWeave CEO: Despite see-sawing stock, IPO was ‘incredibly successful’ after challenges of Liberation Day tariff timing
By Sharon GoldmanDecember 9, 2025
4 hours ago
Arm CEO on stage at Brainstorm AI
AIBrainstorm AI
Physical AI robots will automate ‘large sections’ of factory work in the next decade, Arm CEO says
By Beatrice NolanDecember 9, 2025
6 hours ago
AIBrainstorm AI
‘Customers don’t care about AI’—they just want to boost cash flow and make ends meet, Intuit CEO says
By Jason MaDecember 9, 2025
8 hours ago
A man and robot sitting opposite each other.
AIEye on AI
The problem with ‘human in the loop’ AI? Often, it’s the humans
By Jeremy KahnDecember 9, 2025
8 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
When David Ellison was 13, his billionaire father Larry bought him a plane. He competed in air shows before leaving it to become a Hollywood executive
By Dave SmithDecember 9, 2025
17 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
‘Fodder for a recession’: Top economist Mark Zandi warns about so many Americans ‘already living on the financial edge’ in a K-shaped economy 
By Eva RoytburgDecember 9, 2025
7 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Real Estate
The 'Great Housing Reset' is coming: Income growth will outpace home-price growth in 2026, Redfin forecasts
By Nino PaoliDecember 6, 2025
4 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Craigslist founder signs the Giving Pledge, and his fortune will go to military families, fighting cyberattacks—and a pigeon rescue
By Sydney LakeDecember 8, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Uncategorized
Transforming customer support through intelligent AI operations
By Lauren ChomiukNovember 26, 2025
13 days ago
placeholder alt text
Banking
Jamie Dimon taps Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and Ford CEO Jim Farley to advise JPMorgan's $1.5 trillion national security initiative
By Nino PaoliDecember 9, 2025
9 hours ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.