• Contact Us
  • Login
Upgrade
Tech News Hero
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
  • Gadgets
  • Social
  • Gaming
  • Mobile
  • PC
  • Internet
  • Security
  • Apps
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Gadgets
  • Social
  • Gaming
  • Mobile
  • PC
  • Internet
  • Security
  • Apps
No Result
View All Result
Tech News Hero
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Voi, the European ‘micro mobility’ rental company, raises $160M additional equity and debt funding – TechNewHero

by technewshero
December 13, 2020
in News
0
Voi, the European ‘micro mobility’ rental company, raises $160M additional equity and debt funding – TechNewHero
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Voi, the Stockholm-headquartered micro mobility company known for its e-scooter rentals, has raised $160 million in new funding. The round, about two thirds equity and one third debt, is led by The Raine Group.

Others participating include VNV Global, Balderton, Creandum, Project A, Inbox, and “sustainability-focused investor” Stena Sessan, along with individual backers with links to tech companies such as Delivery Hero, Klarna, iZettle, Zillow, Kry/Livi and Amazon.

Voi co-founder and CEO Fredrik Hjelm says the company — which competes with the likes of Bird, Tier, Bolt and Lime — has secured an “asset-backed” debt facility tied to the scooters and e-bikes it will have on its books in 2021.

The idea is that, having proven its model can be sustained, capital funnelled into the expense of purchasing the vehicles needed to expand the service, can be secured against those assets, even if they will depreciate relatively quickly over time.

“I think, going forward, we will increase the debt ratio to equity,” he tells me. “What you wanna avoid, of course, as a startup, is dilution. We want as much debt as possible because we want cash to grow because we think we can have good ROI in capital. But the debt market is usually closed for startups, until they get to a very proven business model”.

Hjelm says, as the unit economics improved, which Voi has shown by becoming operationally profitable for a few months this year on a group level, it puts the company in a position where, coupled with enough historical data, it can understand “the payback” time on vehicles. This means a financing model similar to rental car companies, or other companies with assets that have a proven value, becomes more of a possibility.

Once it’s proven to work, he says in 6-9 months from now Voi hopes to be able to increase the debt facility. “Probably you will never write about Voi raising equity again,” Hjelm teases, likely in reference to my scooping one of the company’s earlier funding rounds.

By thinking about and funding the vehicles and the operations as two separate parts of the business, it also points to where the Voi founder believes the industry and his company in particular, is heading. “I think the direction we’re going is, we’re becoming more and more of a tech enabled infrastructure company,” he says, comparing it to a telco or other infrastructure plays.

This makes more sense when you consider that many cities around the world are holding tendering processes and only licensing two or three and sometimes only a single provider. And it’s here where Voi has also made good transaction over the last year — sped by the Coronavirus pandemic which has forced cities to open up micro mobility services faster in order to offer an alternative to packed trains and busses.

“With major new markets, including the U.K. opening up to e-scooter mobility solutions, Voi has become Europe’s preferred operator, winning over 2/3 of city license tenders across Europe, including recent wins in Birmingham, Liverpool, Bern and Cambridge,” says Voi.

A decision on which operators are awarded London’s tender is expected on December 14th. Up to three operators will be selected to operate trials, which are due to start in Spring 2021.

Voi says the new funding will be used to invest in technology platform development, fuel growth in current Voi markets and bring Voi’s latest e-scooter model — Voiager 4 — to more cities. In addition, Voi will use funds to further enhance the safety infrastructure of its platform, “the company’s number one priority,” says the company.

Previous Post

Was This Poker Player’s Luck Too Good to Be True?

Next Post

A tween tries Apple’s new ‘Family Setup’ system for Apple Watch – TechNewHero

technewshero

technewshero

Related Posts

Fluence, the energy storage systems developer, is now worth over $1 billion after QIA investment – TechCrunch
News

Fluence, the energy storage systems developer, is now worth over $1 billion after QIA investment – TechCrunch

by technewshero
January 13, 2021
Elon Musk says SpaceX will attempt to recover Super Heavy rocket by catching it with launch tower – TechCrunch
News

Elon Musk says SpaceX will attempt to recover Super Heavy rocket by catching it with launch tower – TechCrunch

by technewshero
January 14, 2021
2020 will change the way we look at robotics – TechCrunch
News

2020 will change the way we look at robotics – TechCrunch

by technewshero
January 15, 2021
An earnest review of a robotic cat pillow – TechCrunch
News

An earnest review of a robotic cat pillow – TechCrunch

by technewshero
January 16, 2021
Trump vetoes major defense bill, citing Section 230 – TechNewHero
News

Trump vetoes major defense bill, citing Section 230 – TechNewHero

by technewshero
December 24, 2020
Next Post
A tween tries Apple’s new ‘Family Setup’ system for Apple Watch – TechNewHero

A tween tries Apple's new 'Family Setup' system for Apple Watch – TechNewHero

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Most Popular

Linux to get kernel ‘lockdown’ feature

September 30, 2019

A Cheap 3D Printer Can Trick Smartphone Fingerprint Locks

April 16, 2020
Xbox Series X restock news: Inventory updates for Best Buy, Amazon, Target, Walmart, more

Xbox Series X load times vs. Xbox One X vs. Xbox Series S vs. Xbox One

January 14, 2021

Browse by Category

  • Apps
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • Internet
  • Mobile
  • News
  • PC & Laptops
  • Security
  • Social
Tech News Hero

© 2020 Tech News Hero.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Landing Page
  • Buy JNews
  • Support Forum
  • Contact Us

© 2020 Tech News Hero.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?