Dutch e-scooter sharing startup felyx now in Brussels: Can it compete with Europcar backed startup Scooty?

Last mile ride sharing is a really competitive segment with multiple players trying to get a bigger chunk of the market. There are many startups, scaleup and even established companies that want to go big in this space. However, the e-scooter sharing startup felyx is doing rather well. The startup has now gone international by expanding its services to Brussels. With the expansion of its services to Brussels, Belgium, the company will go up directly against the Belgian startup Scooty. Here’s what you can expect from the budding startup.

felyx’s expansion to Brussels

The Dutch electric scooter felyx is entering Brussels with 614 vehicles and the company expects to offer its services starting June. The startup also signed a letter of intent with the municipality of Brussels to ensure that there are no hitches while deploying its services in the city. With the expansion, the company will be working with a completely local team, for which the recruitments are currently ongoing. As mentioned earlier, this is the first expansion of the startup to a foreign city. It previously enabled its users to book e-scooters only in three cities of the Netherlands, in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.

Commenting on the expansion, Co-founder and CEO of felyx, Quinten Selhorst, says, “Our goal is not only to transport people, but also to make cities throughout Europe more livable. We now have tens of thousands of users in the Netherlands, who, thanks to our e-scooters, leave the car and taxi for small items. In this way, we reduce the number of traffic congestion, ensure fewer emissions and our customers also reach faster from A to B. Brussels is very interesting because of the international character of the city. The many office workers, expats and students fit exactly in our target group. It is a city that is open to innovation and committed to sustainability.”

Taking rivals head on

felyx is entering a city where an already established electric scooter sharing startup has established itself. By entering Brussels, the felyx will be competing with Scooty, which is a Belgium based startup that follows the same free-floating electric scooter sharing principle as felyx. Back in 2018, the startup was acquired by one of Europe’s leading rental car company, Europcar.

How felyx operates

felyx users can get their e-scooters via the felyx app for Apple and Android. They can use the app to locate, reserve, and activate the nearest e-scooter. One can book an electric scooter at a cost of €0.30 per minute, and in addition, users don’t need to worry about finding a parking spot or about the vehicle’s maintenance as the company takes care of it.

Going green with felyx

Felyx’s e-scooters are 100 percent electric and run entirely on renewable energy. As per the company, since launching its services in 2017 their e-scooters in the Netherlands have travelled over 2.6 million km. This is said to have saved 170 tonnes of CO2, which would’ve otherwise been pumped into the atmosphere. To remove this amount of CO2 from the air, 8,500 trees would have to grow for a year.

UPDATE: In the Belgian capital — Brussels — starting today 200 e-scooters available. This number is scaled up in the coming weeks for a total of 614 e-scooters. To introduce the Brussels dealing with the part scooter service they can ride for free the first two weeks after registration. This offer is valid until July 31st.

Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more updates in the tech startup world.

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