INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Voi Technology, the µ-mobility& startup that operates an e-scooter service in a 38 cities across 10 European countries, has raised an
$85 million in Series B funding.
Backing the round is a mixture of existing and new investors
They include Balderton Capital, Creandum, Project A, JME Ventures, Raine Ventures, Kreos Capital, Inbox Capital, Rider Global, and Black Ice
The new funding brings the total raised by Voi to $136 million.
Eagled-eyed readers will have noticed that, based on our previous Voi
coverage, the total figure is $32 million short
That because not all of Voi previous Series A commitment was cashed in after the company was offered more favourable terms for its $30
million Series A extension and therefore elected not to draw down the second tranche of its original Series A.
Launched in 2018, the company
is best-known for its e-scooter rentals but now pitches itself as a micro-mobility provider, offering a number of different transport
These include various e-scooter and e-bike models, in a bid to become a broader transport operator helping to re-shape urban transport and
wean people off using cars.
To date, Voi says it has 4 million registered users and has powered 14 million rides
More recently it has launched new, more robust hardware that has been designed to sustain the rigours of commercial e-bike sharing
The idea is that more suitable hardware will help e-scooter companies improve margins since more rides can be extracted from the life-span
of each vehicle.
On that note, Voi says it will use the new funding to develop &strong profitable businesses& in the 38 cities where it is
already operating, as well as increase its R-D spend to improve its technology platform and products
Earlier this year, the company announced that it is already profitable in the cities of Stockholm and Oslo.
&Clearly, we feel we are on
track to achieve this in more of our cities and that is our aim,& Voi co-founder and CEO Fredrik Hjelm tells me
&At this point, a key focus for us is to ensure we continue to increase the lifetime of our e-scooters, forge key partnerships and continue
to work in those cities which provide the best conditions for a profitable e-scooter business&.
Hjelm says that Voi version 2 scooters are
projected to last over 18 months, which means the company should be in profit before it needs to raise again
However, he wouldn&t be drawn on when that might be.
With regards to R-D and improvements to the Voi platform, the company will continue to
work on the lifetime of its e-scooters, in addition to improved repair management via integrating &predictive diagnostics&.
Hjelm also says
Voi is developing &AI-powered& fleet management and more generally the platform capability to support future product portfolio expansion
In other words, we can expect new micro-mobility device categories in the future.
