– SWEDEN, Stockholm – Voi Technology, the smart mobility startup, today announced that it has closed a new $30m round from previous investors Vostok New Ventures, Balderton Capital, LocalGlobe and Raine Ventures, alongside new investors Project A and Creandum, to ramp up expansion across Europe and invest in R&D.
Voi has become the leading home-grown player in Europe’s booming electric scooter market by working collaboratively with city authorities across the continent and pioneering many industry firsts, including a Code of Conduct in Stockholm to help the city’s multiple scooter-sharing operators work more safely and efficiently together. In a matter of seven months, the company has built up over 400,000 riders, who have taken a total of more than 750,000 rides and cumulatively traveled over a million-and-a-half kilometres – the equivalent to 37 times around the globe.
Voi has a stronghold in the Nordics’ main cities of Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Lund, Uppsala and Copenhagen – most of which will reach profitability in Q1 based on strong user traction – and is also live in Paris, Lyon, Madrid, Malaga, Zaragoza, Murcia, Lisbon, and Faro. From today, Voi’s scooters will be available in Oslo too, with Helsinki and other cities launching later this month.
The latest round of investment enables the startup to continue to expand into new cities in Italy, Germany, Norway, and France. Voi, which builds its own tech end-to-end, will also double-down on R&D, including the development of new vehicles, and further enhance its products and team. The company already includes hires from Spotify, Uber, Bird, BCG, Avito, Budbee, Glovo, Cabify and many other top brands.
A host of high profile angel investors including Cristina Stenbeck (Kinnevik), Justin Mateen (co-founder of Tinder), Nicolas Brusson (CEO and co-founder of BlaBlaCar), Christian Leone (founder of Luxor Capital) and Spencer Rascoff (ex-CEO of Zillow), also contributed to the latest investment round.
Launched in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 2018, Voi was founded by Fredrik Hjelm, Douglas Stark, Adam Jafer and Filip Lindvall with a mission to improve the way people move around congested urban centers and dramatically reduce pollution by introducing fleets of small electric vehicles to Europe’s streets in close partnership with cities themselves. “This distinctively Scandinavian approach to growth — based on dialogue, transparency, and sustainability – ensures we only enter markets where we’re actively wanted and have a genuine role to play, while always putting citizens at the heart of everything we do,” says Voi’s CEO Fredrik Hjelm.
“Asking ‘permission’ before we enter new towns and cities, unlike some of our competitors, means we can work with the authorities on the ground to offer not only a viable alternative to cars but also help people to combine their e-scooter journeys with the existing public transport network to make moving around as seamless as possible. This latest investment means we can take that approach to a range of new cities while continuing to invest heavily in our product, technology, and team.”
Due to the fact that some European cities now host multiple electric scooter operators, Voi has led from the front by helping establish an industry-wide Code of Conduct in Stockholm and other cities. Based on Voi’s best practice experience from operating in cities across Europe, and on its 150,000+ users in the Swedish capital, the Code of Conduct is an informal way of regulating company behavior as an alternative to formal regulation. It sets out common ground for operators, covering issues such as corporate and product complaints, maintenance and quality control as well as safety measures and shared rules on data sharing.
Riders can use Voi scooters by downloading the app to locate a nearby scooter on the street or by using a map, pressing the ‘ride’ button, and scanning the Voi QR code. There’s a €1 unlocking fee and a ride costs €0.15 per minute.
Thies Sander, Founding Partner at Project A, adds: “Sustainable urban mobility is a global challenge and we strongly believe that Voi offers a valuable and lasting solution. The solution combines sharing, electric drive, and digitization which are the pillars of mobility of the future. The Voi team has already shown a great track record throughout Europe and we are very much looking forward to supporting them in establishing their company in the German market.”
For more information : https://www.voiscooters.com
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