Voi RAISES ANOTHER $85 MILLION, For It’s E-Scooter!

E-SCOOTER SERVICE PROVIDER Voi RAISES ANOTHER $85 MILLION

European startup Voi raises another $85 Million in Series B funding, this came as the “micro-mobility” company ‘Voi Technology’ that operates an e-scooter service in thirty-eight (38) cities – stretched across 10 European countries were braced with this achievement.

Meanwhile, the round was backed by a mixture of new and existing investors, and these include Creandum, JME Ventures, Balderton Capital, Project A, Kreos Capital, Raine Ventures, Inbox Capital, Rider Global, and not excluding Ice Capital. It’s also understood the startup had previously in Series A funding raised $51 million, bringing the total funds raised by the company to $136 million.

Also to note is the cashed in commitment in Voi’s Series A funding after the company was offered more favorable terms for its $30 million Series A extension.

In a bid to wean people off using cars, the startup made it clear that it already has four (4) million registered users and in the process powered fourteen (14) million rides. To stand the test of time, lately, the company launched new and more robust hardware that has been designed to withstand the rigors of commercial e-bike sharing. The point here is that more sustainable hardware will enable e-scooter companies to improve margins based on the fact that more rides could be extracted from the life-span of every single vehicle.

Based on this, Voi response in its new funding (Voi raises another $85 million) meant it will use the new funds to develop “strong profitable businesses” within the 38 cities it has already established its functional presence and will see the company increase its spending to improve its products and technology platform. In the first quarter this year, the startup in its publication stated that it is already profitable in the cities of Oslo and Stockholm.

Responding to this development, Voi co-founder and CEO ‘Fredrik Hjelm’ said: “Clearly, we feel we are on track to achieve this in more of our cities and that is our goal. 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”. – Credit Techcrunch.

In addition to ‘Fredrik Hjelm’s’ comment, he made it clear that Voi’s scooters precisely its second version are projected to last 18 months, and that implies the company ought to have made a reasonable profit before it needs to raise another fund. He wasn’t specific with the timing and when it should be expected.

Adding that, R&D and improvements to the Voi platform would require the company’s continuous work on the basis of the lifetime of its e-scooters, and this will include improved repair management via integrating what he calls “predictive diagnostics”. Also to be developed is the “AI-powered” fleet management and the platform that will be capable to support future expansion.

• What’s your take as Voi raises another $85 million for its e-scooters?