🏦 GoTo To Go Public

Plus, Foxconn joins forces with Gogoro, Porsche makes new ebike move, and Acton acquires Duckt.

February 15, 2022

Welcome to the Micromobility Newsletter. Here’s what’s going on in the wide world of tech, transportation, and cities this week. Before we get started…

Tell Us a Story

Hey there-

Are you designing a revolutionary new rideable? Launching a killer app? Have a game-changing plan to eliminate road deaths and transportation emissions once and for all? Above of all, are you a born storyteller with a longterm vision for how we, as a society, are going to build a better future for our cities and mobility systems?

If so, we have good news: We’re looking for world-class speakers to address these topics and more at the Micromobility Europe conference in Amstedam on June 1-2.

Apply today if you’re interested and tell us about yourself and what you’re building.

What You Need to Know This Week

  • GoTo Global, a micromobility and car-share service that operates in Israel, Spain, Malta, and Germany, announced plans to go public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange through a shell company merger with Nera Tech Media. The deal, which is expected to be closed in early April, will initially give GoTo access to $12M to expand its operations in Germany. (Watch: GoTo’s Shirly Kalush explains the company’s strategy to make money in the competitive world of shared mobility.)

  • Apple supplier Foxconn and EV moped maker Gogoro are joining forces to build a battery-cell plant in Indonesia.

  • Acton, an American company that provides hardware and software for micromobility fleets, announced it is acquiring Duckt, an Estonian docking and charging infrastructure startup, to create an end-to-end mobility ecosystem for cities. Considering that more than half of the scooter and bike networks in the US today are station-based, Acton could very well be onto something here.

  • Global micromobility operators have raised approximately $1B a year since 2018, according to a new funding survey.

a close up of a chart

  • Uber and Lyft are finally starting to look like different companies: “Uber is doubling down on delivery, while Lyft is growing its bike-share business.”

  • Following a government cybersecurity review, China’s Didi is expected to lay off 20% of its staff across major businesses, including ride-hail, bike-share, and package delivery.

  • Mundimoto, an online marketplace for used motorcycles that’s based in Spain, has raised $22.6M to fuel expansion across Europe.

  • Spin released mode-shift data that shows that 25% of trips on the company’s micromobility vehicles replace private or ride-hail car trips.

  • More than half of Harley-Davidson’s EV revenue comes from selling ebikes to kids. But with plans to release a lower-cost electric motorcycle through its LiveWire subsidiary next quarter, Harley-Davidson isn’t giving up on motorcycles just yet.

  • Lightning Motorcycles is designing a 250mph EV two-wheeler using a special metal called niobium that is (appropriately) more often found on rocket ships than motorcycles.

  • Porsche has bought a stake in yet another ebike startup, this time, drive systems manufacturer Fazua.

  • Portugal exported $675M worth of bikes and ebikes in 2021, a 39% increase year-over-year.

  • Another player has entered China’s white-hot market for tiny EVs: the colorfully named Chery QQ Ice-cream.

Infinite Block

Did you hear? We launched a new newsletter series: Infinite Block!

While continuing to work with some of the biggest and best mobility leaders in the world through this newsletter, our ambition with Infinite Block is to shine a light on other local policies that are reshaping the way cities move and operate on a global scale.

For our first issue, Horace Dediu examines why cities throughout history have continually grown in size and power, despite being highly vulnerable to wars, pandemics, natural disasters, and other existential threats. Here’s a snippet:

What makes cities anti-fragile—their superpower—is their ability to adopt innovations. Remember, cities are made up of people, arranged in a meritocracy. Thus cities construct their own remedies to problems and build back after adversity through collaboration and rapid prototyping. Urbanism is agile, so to speak. The essential quality of the city is its ability to change.

If you’re interested in the past and future of cities, it’s a very enjoyable read. We hope you check it out and subscribe for more content soon.

Jobs to Be Done

Welcome to our jobs board, where every week we post open positions in hopes of connecting our talented readers with professional opportunities in the burgeoning world of new mobility. Find out who’s hiring below and sign up for the newsletter to view fresh listings every week.

Hit reply if you have a job that you’re interested in listing.

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