Australian Micromobility Company Raises $16 Million for International Expansion
In late August 2020 Sydney based Bolt Bikes completed a Series A capital raise of $16 million to expand its operations in the USA.
The startup has also announced a rebrand with a new name, Zoomo, and a new logo.
The Australian Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) led the capital raise with a $7 million equity investment. It was completed with equity investment from Hana Ventures and existing investors Maniv Mobility and Contrarian Ventures, together with venture debt from OneVentures and Viola Credit.
The company was co-founded in 2017 by Mina Nada, a former executive at Deliveroo and Mobike and Michael Johnson a former Bain & Company consultant. It mainly targets delivery companies, gig economy workers and inner city commuters with ebikes that can be rented, bought outright or paid for in instalments.
Zoomo will use the capital to launch a flagship brick-and-mortar operation in Los Angeles and expand its New York footprint. The startup is also expanding into new categories, such as parcel, mail and grocery deliveries.
Zoomo also has operations in the UK and Australia, where it plans to expand from its current Sydney operations into Melbourne and Brisbane.
“The US market is critical for Zoomo’s growth, and the investment will allow us to expand our product lineup and physical presence in the country,” said Mina Nada, CEO and Zoomo co-founder. “We’re committed to growing our operations to new American cities and states as quickly as possible.”
Ido Vigdor, general partner at Viola Credit, said: “Last-mile delivery has been growing immensely and we believe it will continue to do so. Mina and the team have done an excellent job producing a compelling offering in the market and building strong brand recognition, which is why we at Viola Credit and OneVentures are delighted to join this round and provide the credit funding that will support their effort to scale internationally.”
Nada added: “Zoomo is differentiated by our vertically integrated approach. We offer smart utility bikes through a physical network of service centers and world-class software for a very affordable price.”
“Last year I spent three quarters of the year between Asia, Europe and the US… we’re proving, against many naysayers, that we can grow a global, operationally intensive business headquartered in Sydney.”
Ian Learmonth, CEO of the CEFC which has $10 billion in government funds to invest in climate friendly enterprises, said that Zoomo sat well within its mandate.
“Transport in Australia produces 100 million tonnes of emissions each year, or 19% of national greenhouse gas emission,” he said. “Cars and light commercial vehicles together represent more than half of those emissions.
“Expanding the Zoomo fleet to service Australia’s rapidly growing e-commerce sector can help drive down transport emissions by thousands of tonnes of carbon a year.”
For Mina Nada, e-bikes are the future. “We believe that the bike world is ready for disruption and that in five to ten years, LEVs will be the predominant form of transportation. Zoomo is taking the lead in this transformation.”
This article is based upon a Zoomo media release. Parts of this article were first published in Bikebiz (UK) and the Australian Financial Review.