It has become abundantly clear that we would rather purchase an expensive piece of technology to remedy an issue rather than solve it. In fact, this very mentality has provided much of the capital for startups operating at maximum capacity in the tech industry. Many moons before today, if you needed to take a trip to the store, you would walk.
If you needed to head to a town five to ten miles away, you would walk. Also, people who enjoyed getting outside and taking breaths of fresh air, they would walk as well. Some time in the last decade, that love has slowly dwindled to the point of casual infatuation. It’s not because we’ve forgotten how to physically put one foot in front of the other, but rather why walk when we could scooter, bike, or drive.
The micro mobility industry was born from the idea that pedestrian foot traffic could be made to be more efficient, and what better way to do so than by hopping on an electric scooter. If you reside in any major US city, you’ve seen these electric scooters, some branded with names like Bird, Lime, Scorpion, and countless others, parked in the middle of city sidewalks.
Several months ago, Uber caught on to emerging micro mobility industry, which has seen millions of Americans fawn over electric scooters and pedal-assisted bikes left on city sidewalks across the country. Uber acquired the bike-sharing startup Jump for a price close to $200 million, thus giving its users access to the increasingly popular form of local transportation.
Back in January, Jump closed a $10 million Series A round of funding while simultaneously becoming the first stationary bicycle service to receive a permit to launch in San Francisco. Uber released their first Jump scooters in Santa Monica, and since then Uber riders have been able to locate and claim a Jump electric scooter from the same app that they hail rides. Riders simply scan on QR code located on the center of the steering mechanism and start riding the scooters. The company reports that rides cost $1 to start and $0.15 per minute afterward.
The scooter-sharing phenomenon has caused mass hysteria for pedestrians, and copious amounts of joy for riders, but the business model has remained largely untouched for the past few years.
Enter Grover, the Berlin-based startup that offers consumers “pay-as-you-go” subscriptions to the latest devices as an alternative to owning products outright. In July 2018, the Company raised $37 million in a Series A funding round let by Circularity Capital LLP. According to TechCrunch reports, the Company announced plans to get involved in the micro mobility space with GroverGo, a service that allows customers to rent the Xiaomi-Scooter Miija for $45 per month, granting them access to an e-scooter at a fraction of the cost of purchasing one.
The whole idea behind GroverGo is, rather than paying each time you want to ride an e-scooter or going so far as to purchasing one yourself, GroverGo customers will have unlimited scooter rides without spending thousands on e-scooters and their accompanying repair costs.
According to TechCrunch, the Xiaomi scooter can reach speeds of up to 15 mph, and can go ten miles on a single charge.
“The biggest advantage of GroverGo versus pay-per-ride e-scooter services is the guaranteed availability and efficient use, as each scooter stays with its renter rather than hundreds of them clogging the sidewalks waiting to be picked up and recharged. GroverGo customers make their scooter their own for the time of their subscription and know that it’s always charged and at their disposal. Even in the most remote neighborhoods, the scooter can be folded and taken to the office or a bar and will be there for the ride home.”
–Grover statement regarding GroverGo
