Recently, following the popularity of the sharing economy, ranging from charging treasures and umbrellas to bicycles and cars, cities have started sharing modes.
The time-sharing and branch-segment leasing of the same item not only improves the efficiency of use of the goods, but also greatly saves the cost of use of the consumer.
When the era of shared bicycle smash hits in China, on the other side of the ocean, the concept of redefining the electric scooter in the United States is strong.
Starting in March, in the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Washington, there are some electric scooters in the corner of the city center, and many people are walking on the streets with these scooters.
The shared electric scooter in the United States, in the same way as the domestic shared bicycle operating mode, is able to share the travel tool by scan code to go.
Specifically, it is a service provided by three start-ups — Lime, Bird and Spin.
The predecessor of the electric scooter shared bicycles. Although it was favored in China, it was not in the United States. It was also a shared travel mode. Why did the electric scooter suddenly fire? Which giants are currently involved? What is the development prospect?
please watch the following part.
Shared scooter project has started
On July 10th, Uber, the leading American taxi driver, announced that he would participate in the sharing of electric skateboard startup Lime service in his app.
Lime’s predecessor was the American shared bike pioneer LimeBike, which became a shared scooter startup Lime and a $335 million financing from Google Venture.
Not long ago, Bird, the first electric scooter unicorn company, also received $300 million in financing from Sequoia, and in less than a year, it had a valuation of $3 billion.
The two companies have been in business for less than a year since the establishment of the electric scooter business.
Giants including Uber, Lyft, and ofo are also interested in joining the shared scooter market. At least 12 companies have submitted applications to the San Francisco City Transportation Bureau to operate shared electric scooters in the city.
Micro Headquarters is also working with Lyft to develop a shared electric scooter. It is expected that the first batch of 50,000 scooters will be launched in the US market in the near future.
In other countries, shared electric scooters are also on the rise. Neuron, a shared electric scooter company founded in Singapore, is ahead of the two new unicorns in the US and will soon complete a new round of financing.
The market and status quo of shared electric scooters
Electric scooter is another new product form after traditional skateboarding. In the past two years, the small and stylish electric scooter has gradually become a popular tool for young people.
How is the concept of shared bicycles in China being reinvented into shared scooters in the United States?
It should be mentioned that the United States has always had a good skateboarding culture foundation, especially for young people, who used skateboarding as a sport, which also trained a group of potential users for sharing electric scooters.
Electric scooters also have unique advantages compared to shared bicycles.
More effort
Many people choose electric scooters instead of pedal bicycles because the former is easier to use. The bicycle needs a human hi-hat, and when it is uphill, it will sweat, and the scooter is very easy. It can be easily started up when standing up, and the speed can reach up to 20km/h.
cheaper
It is understood that the United States sharing electric scooter charges for one dollar, 15 cents per minute, an average of about 24 dollars per day per vehicle.
Especially in the last few kilometers of commuting, compared to Uber’s high taxi fare, the cost advantage of sharing electric scooters is obvious.
Of course, in addition to the transformation of shared bicycles, the real sharing of scooters into the market and the fire, or the “pick” of the venture capital giants Google, Uber, brought huge capital and attention, making the shared electric scooter suddenly pushed The new vent of the United States.
The last mile of the road
Many VCs (risk investments) believe that the business opportunities in small electric scooters are huge, and Saar Gur, head of CRV, who is involved in investing in Bird, told Bird:
“We have seen more than 20 companies focusing on the ‘last mile’ problem and see it as a multi-billion dollar business opportunity that can make a big difference in the world.”
ORIORI tech feels that although the domestic shared travel field has not been hot, the service of sharing electric scooters is on the way.
As a supplier of original products, ORIORI tech has received a large number of procurement needs from relevant cross-border e-commerce companies to cope with the next stage of shared scooter boom.
For cross-border merchants, this may be an opportunity.
Of course, the history of sharing bicycles is still in front of us.
Sharing electric scooters has brought “destructive effects” to urban transportation, which has made many citizens feel annoyed. The regulations have not kept up with the speed of scooters occupying the streets. Now the situation is chaotic, but the order should be restored soon.
Wind Investment’s choice to support the promotion of electric scooters is not just to take a share in the bicycle rental market, but to subvert the bicycle market.
Whether the sharing of electric scooters in Europe and America will take the old road, the results are not known. In the case of continuous control of local policies, we will wait and see how we share the scooter business.
Sharing scooters is booming in the US, are you optimistic about this?