Of late, there has been a shift towards climate-friendly e-mobility solutions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, commuters started encouraging this shift as they moved away from traditional transportation options. In an attempt to make free and sustainable mobility accessible to everyone, London-based HumanForest came up with London’s first free, shared electric bike service.
Secured €2M funding
The free, shared electric bike service secured £1.8 million (nearly €2 million) funding from leaders in the mobility industry including Vicente Pascual and Juan de Antonio (founders of Cabify, a ride-sharing app). The new investment will be used to grow HumanForest’s fleet to 1,000 bikes by the end of this month. Also, the company intends to have 2,000 e-bikes in London in a year.
As a part of the funding round, Cabify’s Pascual has joined the HumanForest board along with ex-Volvo president and CEO of NEVS AB, a Swedish electric car maker, Stefen Tilks. Notably, the co-founder and CEO of HumanForest, Agustin Guilisasti is a former country manager at Cabify.
Zero-emission dockless e-bikes!
Since its debut in June this year, HumanForest has served 14,000 riders who have taken almost 42,000 rides. The company has announced that the number of rides has increased by over 100% on a month-on-month basis. With this sustainable e-bike service, riders have been able to avoid 8 tonnes of CO2 that is equivalent of planting nearly 300 trees.
HumanForst offers 20 minutes of free rides per day to its users. On exhausting the free daily minutes, the dockless, zero-emission e-bikes powered by renewable energy cost £0.12p per minute sans any unlocking fees. And, users can pause their ride whenever they want and park it for up to 23 hours. Interestingly, these e-bikes are GPS-tracked and can reach up to 15mph. It is also possible to lock and unlock these e-bikes via the companion app.
Vicente Pascual said, “I worked with the team at HumanForest for ten years at Cabify and I believe that this is another disruptor. It is three disruptors in one; it provides free mobility for users through its partnership model, protects the planet and appeals to partner companies who seek to demonstrate their social impact. We are already seeing the success of the model and I am excited to be involved in its future growth.”
Stefan Tilk said, “I am pleased to be part of the HumanForest board in this new adventure. With over 30 years of experience in the mobility sector at traditional companies such as Volvo, I know how important this next phase of the electric transport revolution is going to be. HumanForest has a unique business model that is completely new to the industry and it couldn’t be timelier as electric transport is set to change the way people move.”
Caroline Seton said, “HumanForest offers something for all; a weekend leisure activity, a ‘return to work’ solution and an accessible, simple way to get from a to b. All the while, our e-bikes are helping support a sustainable planet. This investment and the completion of our board are further positive steps for HumanForest as we grow our footprint in London to service this demand. We will benefit enormously from Vicente and Stefan’s expertise.”
Main image picture credits: HumanForest
