Swipe three times, lease a car: Honcker expands its app-based car leasing service to Philly

Backed by a hefty $23 million Series A round, Brooklyn-based Honcker, makers of an app-based car leasing service, has expanded to the Philly area.

In truth, the company — founded by serial entrepreneur Nathan Hecht — had already been piloting its offering in Philadelphia since last summer. That was an early test, the founder told Technical.ly, but early demand from users and dealerships called for a bigger roll-out.

Honcker has five dealership groups signed up for the app, mostly in the suburbs: Langhorne, Pa.-based Reedman Toll, Downingtown, Pa.’s DiAmbrosio Group, O’Neil in Warminster, Pa., Keystone Volvo Cars in Berwyn, Pa., and Paoli Ford in (you guessed it) Paoli, Pa. All told, Hecht said, users can browse available rides in 20 dealerships from 12 auto brands in the Greater Philadelphia Region.

The company promises to let users lease a car in three swipes: one to browse from a list of available cars, one to choose and one to lease. Honcker can arrange for the car to come to you, saving users a shlep.

“The fact that it’s 2018 and we are only one of a handful of companies that have brought the transaction to the web,” Hecht told Technical.ly Brooklyn. “This is an industry that needs to go online.”

Hecht, 40, said the company aims to add one new city every 60 to 90 days. By next year, it aims to be live in 10 to 20 markets.