In less than two
years, Revel has gone from an idea to a shared electric vehicle startup
with more than 1,400 mopeds across Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn and
Queens, New York. Now, it’s ready to grow up — and beyond these three
cities — with a fresh injection of $27.6 million in capital raised in a
Series A round led by Ibex Investors .
The equity round included newcomer Toyota AI Ventures and further investments from Blue Collective, Launch Capital and Maniv Mobility.
The
capital will, as it often does with startups, allow Revel to scale up.
CEO and co-founder Frank Reig said this growth will extend to its fleet
of scooters within the cities it currently operates as well as expand
into new markets. Reig wouldn’t name where the New York-based startup
will launch next, although he provided some hints. Large U.S. cities
with the right population density and more temperate weather are at the
top of the list.
Revel is targeting about 10 cities by mid-2020, Reig added.
How
that growth occurs, and who is behind its operations, is what Reig
believes differentiates Revel from other shared electric vehicle
providers such as scooter startups that have had a record of deploying
in cities before getting approval from local authorities.
Many
startups in the shared industry, including Revel, talk up their focus on
safety and desire to be responsible partners with cities. Revel’s
choice of vehicle — along with a few other decisions — helps it stick to
those promises.
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“These mopeds are motor vehicles,” Reig noted.
“This means there’s no regulatory gray area: you have to have a license
plate.
To get that license plate you have to register each vehicle with
the Department of Motor Vehicles in each state and show third-party auto
liability insurance. And then because it’s a motor vehicle, it’s clear
that it rides in the street, so we’re completely off sidewalks.”
Revel
caps the speed of its mopeds to 30 miles per hour. The company also
provides two helmets — and single-use liners — on every ride and
requires users to be licensed drivers aged 21 or older who pass an
initial safe driving history check. About one out of every 12 applicants
does not make it past this screening, according to Revel.
Any
concerns about users bypassing the protective headgear are largely
erased because both New York and Washington, D.C. have helmet laws, Reig
said.
No gig workers
The company, unlike most on-demand mobility startups, does not have any gig economy workers, either. Revel only has full-time employees, said Reig, adding that it’s a decision he intends to stick with even as his company grows.
“We don’t use gig economy in anything we do and I
see a ton of value in that,” Reig said. “We need a well-trained
workforce that is really committed and cares about the vehicles, because
if not it’s something we’re going to be throwing out every 60 days.”
Revel’s
shared mopeds have a three-year asset life, Reig said, based on their
in-house estimates. To ensure the mopeds last, which has become a key
factor in the unit economics of shared mobility businesses, they remain
on the street.
The mopeds are removed by employees for routine
maintenance that occurs every four to six months. Otherwise, the mopeds
aren’t loaded into vans by gig economy workers who make money by
charging them up — a common practice with the small stand-up scooters
that have inundated cities like San Diego and San Francisco. Instead,
employees swap out the batteries on the mopeds, which have a range of
about 50 miles
20 months and 1,400 scooters
The idea for Revel was born out of Reig’s travels to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he witnessed locals on every form of two-wheeled vehicle.
“A sort of light bulb went off my head, and I asked myself, ‘why is it not a thing in the U.S?,’ ” Reig told TechCrunch in a recent interview. “I came back to New York, started studying the market more and saw all these electric moped operators had been popping up in Europe over the last few years and just realized that if I don’t do it, somebody else will.”
The company started with a small pilot of 68 mopeds in a few neighborhoods within Brooklyn. In May, after a nine-month pilot, Revel pulled the original mopeds it used in its limited pilot and replaced them with 1,000 new models built for two riders and equipped with kickstands for parking. With more mopeds in its fleet, Revel expanded the service to more than 20 neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. In August, Revel launched its service in Washington, D.C., where there are now more than 400 mopeds.
Revel rides cost $1 per person to start, followed by $0.25 per minute to ride and $0.10 per minute while parked. Revel says it will cut the cost by 40% for eligible riders — and give them a $25 credit — through its Revel Access program. Riders who use public assistance programs like SNAP or live in NYCHA housing are eligible for the program.
Source.TechCrunch, Kirsten Korosec, October 10, 2019
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