Last mile connectivity is a segment which attracts both big companies and startups alike. Making its mark in the segment is the Australian micromobility provider Zoomo. The scaleup operates in the delivery fleet sub-segment of this sector and has now bagged a notable £44.7 million in funding to further its goals of expansion and innovation. In a conversation with UKTN, we learn more about the company from its co-Founder & CEO Mina Nada.
Most funded commercial micromobility brand
Zoomo’s latest £44.7 million raise comes soon after its £8.19 million funding, which took place last year. The latest equity raise was led by Australian VC Grok Ventures, who are new investors in the company. Grok was joined by Skip Capital, as well as global CleanTech investor, ArcTern Ventures. This Series B round was also supported by the company’s existing investors, AirTree Ventures, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Contrarian Ventures and Maniv Mobility.
“Today’s funding round underscores the tremendous potential of Zoomo e-bikes for delivery use. Zoomo is excited to bring on some world leading investors like Grok, ArcTern and Skip Capital to support our incredible growth and share in our vision to make e-bikes the default way of moving things around our cities,” Nada comments on the funding.
Next gen e-vehicles and a new debt facility
Nada reveals how the fresh funds will be utilised. He notes that it will be helpful for expanding their operations to new cities and countries, deepen software integration with its customers, and finalise development of Zoomo’s next-generation vehicles, which is supposed to be released in the coming months.
As for the company’s push in the UK, Zoomo aims to grow locally and further expand its footprint across the country. Alongside the funding announcement, the scaleup introduced a new Debt Facility for e-bikes, which will be provided with the help of Viola Credit and OneVentures. “We will use the debt to be able to continue to price the bikes in a way that makes them affordable and accessible to couriers,” Nada adds.
The debt facility is supposed to help businesses rapidly adopt and move to the more sustainable e-vehicles. It will help remove the need for upfront, lump-sum payments on bikes and instead offer a monthly subscription fee. Nada notes that the debt facility will help the company to direct a major chunk of its Series B equity funds to expansion and product development, rather than paying for CAPEX on its vehicles.
Zooming ahead
Zoomo has already established itself as a major player in the last mile and sustainable delivery vehicles. From our interaction, it was clear that the company has a clear vision for its future and is all set to use the latest funding to double down on its agenda. The company started in 2019 with ex-Deliveroo and Mobike executive Mina Nada and his former Bain colleague Michael Johnson at the helm.
Nada tells us that Zoomo’s strength lies in its end-to-end full-service micromobility platform. It takes care of e-bikes, along with offering access to its servicing and maintenance network, a software platform for asset management and telematics and finance offerings. Zoomo currently operates in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and the United States.
In the UK, Zoomo operates in Liverpool, Birmingham and multiple sites across London, and it just launched in Manchester as well. “We have both customer facing stores and a country wide warehouse footprint from where we service our enterprise customers. In the UK, we’ve grown 10x in the past 12 months, and expect to see the company grow 4-5x globally next year driven in line with growth in on-demand grocery and food delivery,” says Nada.
As for successful fundings, Nada says, “We’re a first mover in the commercial e-bike sector, with a focus on last-mile delivery. We have a deep customer focus on end couriers and a vertically integrated approach.” These factors have helped the company land notable funding over the past few years.
Adding fresh talent
Zoomo says it’s currently experiencing ‘hyper growth’ and has new roles across both the United Kingdom and Europe, including roles in human resources, operations, hardware, product and more. It employs 76 people in the UK and is expecting to add new talent in the coming months.
The post Zoomo’s one-stop e-vehicle fleet management solution bags £44.7M funding appeared first on UKTN (UK Tech News).
