About DriveNow

DriveNow Pty Ltd

In 2003 after identifying that there was no marketplace for car rental companies in Australia to offload any excess inventory the idea for DriveNow was formed.  In our initial development we enhanced this to help travellers find and easily compare the best online rates for all Motor Vehicle and Campervan rental. Complete customer care has always been at the forefront of all we do at DriveNow. 

After initially focusing on Australia and New Zealand DriveNow expanded its offerings and now provides online booking facilities for last-minute and year-round Motor Vehicle rentals for major destinations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Europe, USA, Canada and the UK. Our mission is to offer flexible travellers a quick and easy way to get better deals on Motor Vehicle Rental. 

DriveNow is an independent 100% Australian owned and operated company. 

Over the last 20 years DriveNow has worked hard to develop strong relationships with our suppliers and now works with AVIS, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty, Europcar, Alamo, Firefly, Bargain, Dollar and Enterprise for Motor Vehicle rental.  For Campervans we work Maui, Britz, Star RV, Apollo, Cruisin, Camperman, Jucy, Let’s Go, Lucky, Travellers Autobarn, Mighty, GoCheap, Cheapa Campa and Hippie Campa. Recently DriveNow has moved in European Car Leasing. 

DriveNow maintains complete control of its product sourcing, product offering, site display and commercial agreements.  

DriveNow has invested in systems development to ensure it employs cutting edge technology.  This has enabled us to become the fastest reactive experience available to customers and affiliates.  

Before coming together to collaborate on the DriveNow project, Cameron, Chris, Jonathon and Russell had amassed nearly 100 years of combined experience working across the full breath of the travel industry including aviation, car rental, accommodation and touring and in roles as diverse as operations, finance, technology and marketing. As Russell tells it “For many of us, DriveNow was an 'inflexion point ', an opportunity to try something within our personal and professional field of interest that didn't really exist when we started out, and where we thought we could create something of real value to travellers”. 18 months after those first ideas and conversations started, and now 20 years after DriveNow first appeared on the world wide web, they are all continue hands on with the day to day business, product design and development, and collectively as the exec team formulate the strategic direction and innovation that drive's their passion to bring customer value to car and campervan rental comparison

Meet the Owners

Russell Matters

Founder; Role: Managing Director

Russell has a Bachelor of Business degree majoring in Catering and Hotel Management. He commenced his career at Australian Pacific Touring where he was exposed to all aspects of the travel industry.  He spent time working in London, Frankfurt, Los Angeles and Melbourne developing teams of travel professionals who were recognised for their exceptional customer care.  

In 2003 Russell decided there was a gap in the Motor Vehicle rental market and along with his fellow directors set up DriveNow.  Over the last 20 years Russell has made it his mission to bring his strong customer care ethos to the online travel booking market and ensure DriveNow’s success. 

Jonathon Pearson  

Founder; Role: Managing Director, Director of Product

Jonathon has a Bachelor of Business degree and also a Masters of Business Administration.  He has a wealth of travel industry experience from his work at Qantas, Budget Rent a Car and Australian Pacific Touring. Jonathon’s focus at DriveNow is to ensure the quality of our product and to respond to new trends in the market place bringing exciting new offerings to our customers. 

Chris Cole

Founder; Role: Managing Director, Head of IT

Chris studied at the University of Aberdeen and began his career in banking in the United Kingdom. He has worked in the IT industry for over 30 years.  He moved to Australia and began working in the travel industry for Australian Pacific Touring. This role involved managing a multi-disciplinary team globally. In his role as the Regional IT Director for Lee Hecht Harrison Chris has worked across the Asia Pacific region managing the IT infrastructure for multiple locations. 

During this time he helped to set up DriveNow and manages the network platform. He also has a passion for Search Engine Optimisation and Content IT strategies. 

Cameron Braid 

Founder; Role: Managing Director, Head of Systems Development

Cameron is the genius behind the fast reactive interface that DriveNow is proud to offer its customers and affiliates. Cameron heads the Systems Development and Maintenance team.

Cameron graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. He has 27 years of experience in the IT industry, specializing in fullstack web development and linux server administration. Cameron has developed and maintained front-end and back-end systems using a variety of technologies and frameworks.

He is deeply interested in Linux, Open-Source, and Kubernetes. Additionally, Cameron has a strong passion for the Rust programming language, leveraging its capabilities to build efficient and reliable systems.