We built ZeroLease
because car leasing
was broken.
In 2023, our founder Hrithik Agarwal wanted to lease a midsize sedan for his family. He had a steady salary, clean credit, and a paid-in-full driving licence. Three platforms quoted him deposits between ₹1.2L and ₹2.5L — locked for the entire lease term — plus a tower of paperwork stretched across two weeks of office visits.
Meanwhile his neighbour had a 2020 Honda City sitting in the parking lot, driven twice a month. When asked why he didn't list it on existing rental platforms, his answer was sharp: “Daily-rental customers treat the car like garbage. I'd rather it depreciates.”
Two problems. One missing platform.
ZeroLease was built to be that platform. Zero deposit for renters. Long-term, verified lessees for owners. Maintenance, GPS, payouts — all handled by us. The lessee gets the keys without lakhs locked. The owner gets a trustworthy monthly income from an asset that was sitting idle.
We started in Mumbai in late 2024 with 12 cars and 4 lessees. Today we're across 6 cities with hundreds of leases under management — and growing because the math simply works for both sides.
Trust first
Every lessee is KYC-verified. Every owner gets contracts. Every car has GPS. Nothing is on a 'just trust me' basis.
Pricing without games
No deposit surprises. No hidden fees. The token is the only money down — and it's refundable.
Two-sided ownership
We win when both lessee and owner stay long-term. So we obsess equally over both.
Agarwal
A founder who's leased a car himself.
Hrithik Agarwal founded ZeroLease in 2024 after spending eighteen months trying to lease a car in Mumbai without locking ₹2L as deposit. Every conversation ended the same way: “That's just how the industry works.”
That answer was the entire reason ZeroLease exists. Hrithik built the platform around one thesis — that long-term trust between owner and lessee, when properly verified and contracted, removes the need for huge upfront deposits altogether. Today the company runs a fleet across 6 Indian cities, with zero deposit on the customer side and on-time monthly payouts on the owner side.
Previously, Hrithik worked across fintech and SaaS in India, leading product teams that focused on building trust into payment flows. He writes occasionally about the Indian auto market and is reachable at hrithik@avenaa.co.in.
The company behind ZeroLease.
ZeroLease is a flagship product of Avenaa Hospitality Management Private Limited — a Nagpur-headquartered private limited company building mobility and hospitality businesses for India's next decade.
Want to join the journey?
Whether you're looking to lease your dream car or earn from a car sitting idle — we'd love to have you.