Australian born e-bike innovator, Zoomo, has secured AU$16 million from existing and new investors, led by top tier Australian VC, AirTree, as they expand into new markets and invest in further innovation of its commercial use electric bike platform.
AirTree Ventures led the capital raise as a new investor, with strong follow-on support from existing investors, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Maniv Mobility and Contrarian Ventures, with new mobility and cleantech-focused US investors Winthrop Square and Wisdom VC joining the round.
The newest round of funding follows an AU$16 million Series A raise announced in August 2020, led by the CEFC. Cumulatively, Zoomo has raised AU$34 million in the past 24 months.
Zoomo will use the funds to invest in the development and production of the brand’s next-generation vehicle offerings as well as supporting global expansion to satisfy customer demand. Zoomo has had success supplying its vehicles to large fleet operators in the last mile delivery space and is seeing its fleet rapidly expand beyond 10,000 units globally.
Principal at AirTree Ventures, Jackie Vullinghs, said: “Supported by regulatory and cultural tailwinds, Zoomo is accelerating the electrification of global transport, starting with last-mile delivery. Their full stack offering from e-bikes and e-mopeds to finance, servicing and fleet management makes it easy for global food, grocery and logistics businesses to choose carbon neutral.”
Companies are seeking to electrify their fleets
Companies are increasingly setting big, public targets to go green, electrifying delivery fleets as part of this commitment to reduce carbon emissions.
Research has shown that businesses have the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 75 per cent by switching deliveries from vans to e-bikes [1].
Further championing the uptake of e-bikes is the wave of new companies emerging in the on-demand grocery delivery sector (10-15 minute order-to-door delivery) including rapid growth brands, and Zoomo customers, Getir, Gorillas and Dija.
This services segment alone is seeing a $14 billion rise globally since the beginning of the pandemic and is enabled entirely by efficient transport modes like e-bikes.
Zoomo’s unique offering is enabling electrification
Zoomo is meeting this demand head-on with its unique “full stack” model which allows businesses to deploy and manage large fleets of carbon-friendly e-bikes at scale, supported by features like same-day servicing and anti-theft technology.
CEO and co-founder of Zoomo, Mina Nada, shared: “We initially built our products to service the demands of gig workers in the food delivery industry. Their expectations for quality commercial vehicles, on-demand service, flexible financing and tech-enabled security features spurred us to innovate. We’re now seeing enterprises and fleet managers benefiting from the platform we have built. Enterprise fleet managers looking for clean and efficient vehicles are choosing us.”
Zoomo has announced a number of new customer wins in the enterprise space. In addition to Getir, Gorillas and Dija in the 10-minute grocery space, Zoomo has signed up Just Eat Takeaway, owner of Menulog in Australia, Pizza Hut, and a growing number of forward-thinking Domino’s franchises’ locally in the hot-food delivery space.
Zoomo also has a long-standing global partnership with UberEats, helping its riders’ access safe, affordable, and efficient e-bikes.
Just Eat Takeaway spokesperson said: “At Just Eat Takeaway.com, we want to build a sustainable future for food delivery, and are committed to doing our bit to help keep carbon emissions to a minimum, as well as providing an efficient customer experience from order to delivery. E-Vehicles are an integral part of the Scoober model and we are pleased to work in cooperation with Zoomo.”
New Board of Advisors led by industry leaders
Zoomo has also attracted US-based industry leaders to its advisory board, including Angela Strand, Board Member at Lordstown Motor, Aaron Bromberg, Former CPO at Boosted Boards, Tom Valasek, Former CCO at Genze eBikes, and Mark Chiusano, CEO of Cornucopia Logistics, LLC & Avant Business Services, Investor and Logistics innovator in the US.
[1] BLAZEJEWSKI, L, SHERRIFF, G AND DAVIES, N 2020, DELIVERING THE LAST MILE : SCOPING THE POTENTIAL FOR E-CARGO BIKES, PROJECT REPORT, UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD