Voi, Europe’s leading micro mobility company, has raised $160 million in new funding led by The Raine Group, helping the company cement its leadership within Europe’s rapidly evolving micro-mobility transportation sector. World-class investors, including VNV Global, Balderton, Creandum, Project A, Inbox, and sustainability-focused investors, including Stena Sessan, also participated in the round and were joined by top entrepreneurs and executives to global companies, including Delivery Hero, Klarna, iZettle, Zillow, Kry/Livi and Amazon.
The huge sums of money being thrown at the e-scooter/urban ridesharing market offer an immnse opportunity to insurers and brokers.
Governments, city Mayors and local councils all want to virtue signal and show how green they are. That means petrol car and diesel van bans in city centres of course, plus promotion of electric vehicles including e-scooters. Those politicians need to convince Joe Public that it’s safe to use these contraptions, and stress that riders ARE fully insured on the road. Naturally, the e-scooter riders need cover, but the pedestrians also using the streets who cannot hear these scooters approaching need to be covered for third party PI risks. Then there’s property damage, like scratched or vandalised cars to consider, plus theft risk on the scooters, although the value is fairly low of course.
e-scooters are a high risk game for insurers, as one or two claims may involve life-changing injuries. But the upside is that PAYG e-scooters offer micro insurance payments every hour, of every day – a sharp contrast to the traditional annual Fully Comp car cover that underpins the Motor market in the UK.
In connection to the funding, Voi has secured the industry’s first asset-backed debt facility at scale, which will be directed towards scooters and e-bikes in 2021.
Insurers and brokers should note the accent on e-scooters for workers, as a perk, or benefit in kind, which is showcased on the Voi website. Councils too will be keen to talk to insurers who can arrange fleet cover in specific areas. That opens the door for insurers who know and understand this market, plus offer the correct climate change narrative in their marketing pitch.
The last 12 months have been a landmark year for e-scooters, as consumers look for new alternatives to move around Europe’s biggest cities in a convenient, sustainable, quick and safe way. With major new markets, including the UK, opening up to e-scooter mobility solutions, Voi has become Europe’s preferred operator, winning over 2/3 of city license tenders across Europe, including recent wins in Birmingham, Liverpool, Bern and Cambridge and then leading in fleet efficiency across active markets, including top European micro-mobility markets like Berlin, Oslo and Stockholm.
Funds raised will be used to invest in technology platform development, fuel growth in current Voi markets and bring Voi’s latest e-scooter model – Voiager 4 – to more cities across its network. In addition, Voi will use funds to further enhance the safety infrastructure of its platform – the company’s number one priority. As Voi adapts and develops hardware and software, riders benefit from helmet technology, better lights, improved location accuracy, high quality brakes, signalling and suspension, helping ensure users get to their destinations safely.
The Series C funds take total funding of Voi over the last four months to $190 million including the $30m announced in July and completed in September. Voi’s fundraising has closed and is not subject to closing conditions.
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