Dott, the Amsterdam-based micro-mobility company, has announced today a commitment for a €30 million Series A funding round. The investment has been co-led by existing investors the EQT Ventures fund (“EQT Ventures”), a leading European multistage VC fund with commitments of just over €566 million, and Naspers , a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world, through its Naspers Ventures division. Other investors include existing investors Axel Springer Digital Ventures , Felix Capital, FJ Labs, U-Start Club and angel investors.
How the €30m investment will be used to?
As informed in the press release, Dott will be using the investment amount firstly to accelerate the go-to-market for Dott’s custom-designed new products. Their e-bike design is complete, and pre-production is in progress. They will be launched within months and will be produced in Europe and China, while assembled in France.
Further, the company also has plans for e-scooter generations 2 and 3. The gen 2 will be available by the end of the year and will include a swappable battery. Meanwhile, the gen 3 is currently in design and will be available in 2020 with more UX features and operations excellence. Dott’s objective is to continue to increase its e-scooters lifetime (from six months today to one year in September), providing ultimate UX and reducing operational costs.
Secondly, the startup wants to continue investing in the best service available (superior value with comprehensive insurance coverage at the same price), in-house operations (best fleet management tools), teams (mechanics, patrollers, …) and best-in-class warehouses and repair workshops.
Lastly, Dott also has expansion plans for 2019. The company will launch in select cities including Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands in the coming months. Dott is currently operating in Brussels, Paris and Lyon, with a first pilot in Milan as well.
The new round of investment confirms the strategy initiated by Dott’s French co-founders Maxim Romain and Henri Moissinac: along with a strong collaboration with municipalities and local mobility ecosystems, design vehicles specifically for sharing, operate the business in a responsible way (fully integrated operations – no juicers, recharge only in a safe environment) and in a sustainable manner (repair all scooters).
This leads to very promising usage. For instance, in Paris, the average distance per trip is 3.2 km (double distance vs. Lime at 1.6km) and the average trips per scooter per day is at 4 during weekdays and up to 6.5 during weekend days.
Partnership with insurtech startup Zego
Safety is also a key part of this strategy. Along with offering a more stable scooter with bigger wheels (10 inches), lower center of gravity and double-brake system, Dott is the first company to offer comprehensive insurance coverage to its users in France and Belgium (coming soon in Italy) in partnership with Zego (Insurtech leader) and La Parisienne Assurances. This insurance covers both personal injury and third-party liability. The insurance is automatically integrated with the sign-up process for new riders and before the next trips for the existing riders, with no extra cost.
Maxim Romain, CEO, and co-founder, Dott, said:
We’ve shown in the first months that we can offer a true alternative in European cities, taking the lead both in terms of sustainability and best user experience. We think we have a winning combination now, starting with our great results in Paris, along with scooters designed for shared mobility and fully integrated operations from start. Our aim is now to accelerate, take the full lead in cities where we operate, expand to new countries and launch our own Dott e-bike as well as the two next generations of e-scooters in the coming months.
Lars Jörnow, partner and investment advisor at EQT Ventures, said:
Over the last six months, Dott’s world-class team has proved they can develop and deliver the best product in the market, iterate quickly, and execute on their ‘locals with locals’ approach to ensure each roll-out meets the needs of the city it’s in. All while maintaining their focus on safety and ensuring that micro-mobility is environmentally friendly. EQT Ventures looks forward to supporting the team as Dott expands into new countries and launches new offerings.
Martin Tschopp, COO, Naspers Ventures, said:
The dense nature of cities in Europe is ideal for e-scooter and e-bike sharing for short commutes – most trips are much more efficiently covered than with a car. Dott has experienced good traction in its first few months of operation and is leading with a local, sustainable and safety-first mindset, which is appealing to Naspers.
Dott is a micro-mobility European startup founded by Maxim Romain and Henri Moissinac, gathering the most experienced team in mobility and tech in Europe. Dott ’s mission is to design micro-mobility for safety, comfort, and durability, to make green travel an easy choice for everyone in European cities.
Dott has created a list of ten commitments the company will adhere to in order to have a responsible and collaborative approach with cities. Dott ’s eScooters have been already deployed in Brussels, Paris, Lyon, and Milan between January and June 2019. Futher, the Netherland-based startup raised an initial investment of €20 million in December 2018, co-led by EQT Ventures and Naspers with participation from other investors and business angels in Europe. Dott has an 80-people staff, with 2 HQs: technical & admin HQ in Amsterdam, operations HQ in Paris.
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