CEO and Co-Founder Fredrik Hjelm | Image credit: Facebook (Voi Technology)
Stockholm-based Voi Technology, a micro-mobility startup that provides electric scooters for last-mile transportation, announced that it has raised $115M (approx €101.93M) in an oversubscribed funding round to expand its mobility platform into new markets next year.
Voi has now raised $430M in total since it was founded three years ago. The Swedish mobility startup also plans to go public in 2022.
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Recent growth
The current round comes as the company witnesses massive growth this year, outperforming its peers with strong and growing demand for micro-mobility.
Voi achieved 140 per cent year-on-year revenue growth in 2021, hit 90M+ rides since inception, and increased margins and profitability. The platform also claims to have won more city tenders than any other operator in Europe. It beat peers to reach operational profitability company-wide during the summer of 2020 and continued to improve gross margins and rides per scooter as it extended into new markets in 2021.
Investors in this round
The round was led by Raine Group and VNV Global. In addition, the round also saw investment from existing investors Inbox Capital, Nordic Ninja, Stena Sessan, Kreos Capital and new investors Ilmarinen, Nineyards Equity and ICT Capital, among others.
Per Brilioth, CEO of VNV Global, says, “We are reaching a tipping point with micro mobility where cities, led by their residents, are waking up to the full potential of this new mode of transport. Fully integrated with public transport, sustainably sourced and powered by renewable energy, Voi is putting itself far ahead of the competition as the grown-up, responsible operator-partner for cities.”
Besides, entrepreneurs and operators from King, Avito, BCG and more also participated in the fundraising round.
Funds for expansion in Europe
According to Voi, the demand for micro-mobility increased in 2021 as cities are now under pressure to transform their transport operations and reduce the reliance on polluting private vehicles to meet their own net-zero emissions targets. E-scooters, e-bikes and other forms of micro mobility are the best choice for cities.
With the raised capital, Voi plans to continue expanding into new European markets and add more e-bikes to its fleet. The company has set an ambition to take 1 billion car trips off Europe’s roads by 2030 and expansion into new markets and solutions is integral to achieving this.
Fredrik Hjelm, co-founder and CEO of Voi Technology, says, “There is no doubting that micromobility is here to stay and Voi intends to be the go-to mobility platform in Europe for cities that want to give their residents and visitors an integrated, smart mode way to travel. Working closely with cities we are seeing a new vision of urban transport taking shape that is highly complementary to public transport. We are building the future of transport and we are committed to making every Voi city a better place to live.”
Voi also claims to launch Europe’s safest e-scooter model to date – the Voiager 5 – this spring as part of its commitment to achieving Vision Zero – no accidents.
Committed to sustainability
Voi was founded in 2018 by Adam Jafer, Douglas Stark, Fredrik Hjelm, and Keith Richman. It offers e-scooter sharing services in partnership with cities and local communities.
The company has recently unveiled a large-scale pilot of computer vision on e-scooters, which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that can detect when an e-scooter leaves the road and rides on pavement or when the vehicle is parked incorrectly.
Voi claims to be a carbon-neutral company since January 2020 and has adopted the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guiding framework. The company also intends to have fully electric operational vehicles by early 2023.
The company also says it will use only battery cells produced in Europe by 2023, with a resulting 50 per cent lower carbon footprint. The micro mobility operator already sources its e-bikes from Europe and intends to source its e-scooters locally, as soon as that is possible.
Currently, Voi operates in more than 70 cities across 11 countries. It is headquartered in Stockholm and employs over 1000 people. The company says it has more than 6 million users and has provided more than 90 million rides across Europe.
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