The French electric bike sharing service Zoov has secured €6 million in funding to kick start operations in more cities apart from Paris. The investment round was led by Daphni, C4 Ventures and Road Ventures. BNP Paribas Development and the Banque des Territoires have also participated in the funding campaign.
Daphni co-founder Willy Braun articulated, “Zoov fits in perfectly with our investment strategy, which favours services that can transform the lives of citizens and consumers. It is vital that mobility companies go beyond the borders of European mega-cities and grow in large urban areas, throughout the country.”
Pascal Cagni, founder and managing director of C4 Ventures explained, “We have been impressed by the quality of the product, which is quite simply redefining the electric bike sector. Designed in just over a year by an exceptional product team, it offers shared electric mobility services opportunities for growth that have never been explored before, and illustrates the unique French talent for innovation. We were naturally keen to be part of the adventure. Alexandre Rossoz, who led this project with strong involvement of the entire team, signed his first investment as a Partner at C4 Ventures.”
Zoov – an eco-friendly 24X7 shared mobility solution for European cities
Zoov was founded in 2017 by Withings co-founder Eric Carreel, Arnaud Le Rodallec and Amira Haberah in France. The startup offers GPS-enabled shared electric bikes for users to reach their destinations using its navigation system.
Zoov is currently operating in the Saclay region, a hub for research and innovation, to cater residents, students and workers commuting between the municipality areas, business districts and stations. With 200 e-bikes, it has collaborated with local communities and more than 20 companies for facilitating the shared mobility solution.
Awarded with the “Solutions de Mobilité Intelligente”
Zoov has won the “Solutions de Mobilité Intelligente” (Intelligent Mobility Solutions) award, a seal of approval by Mov’eo, the mobility benchmark competitiveness cluster.
Zoov co-founder and chairman, Eric Carreel expressed, “We really believe that to offer a sustainable quality service, we need to be able to enhance it by making use of data. And to gather reliable data in real time about the status of the bikes and the environment in which they are evolving, it is vital that we are fully in control of our product.”
Plans in 2019
After the latest capital inflow, Zoov is aiming to instigate its shared e-bike service in several French conurbations in the year 2019 itself. Further, the startup is looking forward to develop cutting-edge technology and expand its R&D and engineering team.
Amira Haberah, co-founder and Sales & Marketing Director of Zoov explained, “Mobility is a challenge that goes far beyond the borders of major European capitals like Paris, where there is competition between lots of different mobility companies, often with relative added value for users.”
He further clarified, “Medium to large communities and many companies waiting for new mobility solutions have been won over by our bikes and our compact station model. We are working with all stakeholders around the country to come up with a solution that best responds to their mobility challenges, making sure it is sustainable.”
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