Swedish future mobility startup VOI Technology has raised $83 million (around €73.6 million) across three funding rounds led by Balderton Capital, with participation from Vostok New Ventures, LocalGlobe, Raine Ventures, Project A, and Creandum, as well as angel investors including Amazon’s CEO for worldwide consumer Jeff Wilke, Tinder cofounder Justin Mateen, King cofounder Sebastian Knutsson, and Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff.
A $3 million (around €2.7 million) seed round was quickly followed by a huge $50 million (around €44.3 million) investment from multiple backers last November, and now a fresh $30 million (around €26.6 million) has recently been injected to fast-track VOI’s plans to grow its product.
Balderton general partner, Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen, said of the e-scooter startup: “VOI’s founders are exceptional, already proving that they can execute quicker, more effectively, and with better numbers than their rivals. But what’s impressed us even more is [the founders’] collaborative approach to working with governments at European, national, and local level. We believe that’s absolutely essential to success, and VOI has hired the best people in Europe to accomplish it.”
Enter New Markets
VOI has built a stronghold in the Nordic cities of Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Lund, Uppsala and Copenhagen. With the fresh capital, VOI plans to expand its electric scooter service into multiple new markets across Europe, as well as increase their own investment in research and development of their innovative technology.
According to VentureBeat, the startup has already reached 400,000 users in 14 cities across Sweden, France, Portugal, Spain, Norway, and Denmark since its launch last August, and now it hopes to become even bigger thanks to the increased investment.
Riding into a Cleaner Future
Stockholm-based VOI Technology is a green mobility company offering urban commuters a clean alternative to travelling in cities. Their electric scooters are emission-free and don’t contribute to the increasing noise and air pollution that people generate on a daily basis in cities today. In partnership with cities and local communities, VOI hopes that e-scooters can play a central role in changing how people get from A to B in cities in the future.
How VOI Works
As with other pre-existing e-scooter and e-bike startups, there is a VOI mobile app that users can download to find the nearest scooter available, and then they simply scan a QR code on the scooter to activate their ride. Each ride is a set €1 to unlock the scooter, and then the rider pays an additional €0.15 per minute thereafter.
