🎛️ Unagi Dials to 11

Hello and welcome to the Micromobility Newsletter, a weekly missive about mobility, mostly mobility in cities by small electric vehicles (e.g. e-bikes, scooters, mopeds). The reason you’re reading this email is that you signed up on our website or came to one of our events.

If you’re not a subscriber and you want to keep getting the latest news and analysis from inside the micromobility movement delivered straight to your inbox every Tuesday, sign up here for free. If you’d like to unsubscribe, just click that link.

Thank you for reading.

From All of Us…

First off, many thanks to all the cool people who turned out for Micromobility America in the SF Bay Area last week and made our first IRL show in two years such a resounding success. The response blew us away.

Everywhere you looked, from the main stage to the waterfront pier, there were interesting talks with industry experts and high-octane test rides going on. You could feel the sparks flying. (Also, who knew Andrew Yang was such a natural on an electric unicycle?)

As well, there were a ton of amazing launches and announcements from emerging players like Ubco, Unagi, and Cowboy throughout the day, showcasing how far the industry has matured and grown in response to the pandemic (see news roundup below).

We can’t wait to share photos and videos from the event, but for now, we want to say thank you again to everyone who made this show possible, especially our partners. We appreciate the special effort you made to be there this year.

Micromobility America is the home for the thinkers, builders, and leaders who are driving the revolution in lightweight electric vehicles in our cities. We hope you’ll join us again in the future. Stay tuned for more announcements soon ✌️

What You Need to Know This Week

• Unagi launched preorders for a new high-end $2,440 electric scooter, called the Model Eleven (yes, that is a Spinal Tap reference), at Micromobility America. The stylish foldable device comes equipped with numerous high-tech features that distinguish it from the previous Model One, including GPS tracking, ADAS sensor, a removable battery, audible turn-by-turn directions, remote kill in case the vehicle is stolen, and more.

• Also at Micromobility America, Belgium-based e-bike startup Cowboy announced it is expanding operations to the US. Americans can now pre-order the company’s impressive, affordable fourth-generation e-bike, the C4, for the early bird price of $1,990.

• All-terrain motorbike maker Ubco, another presenter at Micromobility America, scored $10m in funding through a new strategic partnership with TPK Holdings, a Taiwanese electric components manufacturing company.

• The state of California called micromobility “critical” to achieving carbon neutrality in a new executive order on climate change.

As seen in this newsletter, Unagi Scooters just launched Model Eleven on stage at #MMAmerica. Unagi was founded in 2018 by David Hyman, former CEO of Beats Music (acq. by Apple), distinguishing with design-first, portable, and powerful dual-motor scooters.

Beginning in personal ownership, Unagi has since come to lead the scooter subscription space with 75m Americans inside its metro service areas.

They are actively hiring across Product/Engineering, Growth/Marketing, and more.

Join the team!

• Helbiz, the shared micromobility company, announced a partnership with Amazon to broadcast Helbiz Live content (including the Italian Serie B soccer championship) to Amazon Prime users in Italy.

• Swiftmile has announced a partnership with parking operator APCOA to bring micromobility charging to parking garages in Stuttgart.

• … and Perch Mobility, a provider of portable charging pods for shared micromobility operators, announced a nationwide partnership with American parking operator LAZ.

• … and micromobility parking/charging solution Bikeep announced it raised $3m in funding.

• The only moped Harley-Davidson ever produced, the 1950s-era Topper, is going up for auction is Las Vegas.

• Swedish e-motorcycle startup Cake announced it closed $60m in Series B funding to help the company ramp up manufacturing and retail. Led by AMF.

• Meanwhile, Dance raised another $19.4m for its e-bike subscription service. Led by Eurazeo.

• Rad Power reimagined its $1,799 city commuter e-bike, the RadCity 5 Plus, which now has the ability to climb hills 40% faster with 11% more battery range.

• Three years after e-scooters first arrived in Europe, the competitive landscape is still coalescing.

• Project44 has acquired last-mile delivery startup Convey for $255m.

• Chicago looks to add 100 miles of bike lanes by the end of 2022.

• Bird announced it is integrating public bike-sharing schemes into its app, starting with five US and European cities: Oslo, Austin, Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Milwaukee.

• Why does the US keep building highways when it makes no sense? Because the money is very good.

• In America, the top-selling vehicles in 48 out of 50 states is an SUV or truck.

• In Britain last year, cycling trips rose 56% among women, compared to 12% among men.

• A new paper shows that, compared to driving a privately owned car, using ride-hail results in a ~20% increase in fuel consumption and ~60% increase in external costs to society from crashes, congestion, and noise.

• The mayor of the southern German town of Tubigen wants to tax SUVs 600% more for parking than other cars.

• The U.S. has the most dockless micromobility operations of any country in the world (292), followed by Germany (234) and Poland (105).

• One more reason to take a bike on your next trip if you’re able, from a recent health survey: “The odds of reporting excellent health were 1.5 times as great for cyclists as they were for non-cyclists after adjusting for covariates.”

• Specialized launched three new e-bikes for the trail and city.

• Parents who want their kids to avoid crowded school buses because of the pandemic are demanding slow streets and cycleways so they can walk or bike to school.

• Pave Motors announced Pave Bike, a 100-lbs e-moped that comes with an NFT which gives riders access to the vehicle without an internet connection, is available for pre-order.

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.

• Publicity Director @ Micro-AV (Seattle)

• Growth Marketing Manager @ Shift Transit (Chicago or remote) 

• Head of Growth & Growth Marketing Manager @ Unagi (remote)

• Zoba (location flexible):

  • Senior Economist/Data Scientist 

  • Full-Stack Software Engineer 

  • Director of Marketing

  • Business Development Associate

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