Movements | March 5th, 2020

Inflatable helmets, Grow looks for a buyer, and ridehailing boosts Bikeshare ridership...

Mar 05, 2020

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Micromobility

Dott has launched an R&D partnership with French helmet startup bumpair to test inflatable helmets that are integrated onboard their scooters. “It inflates automatically when the user unlocks the scooter, and folds up in seconds at the end of the journey. As a result, the user is sure to be always protected, even on the day when he does not have time to think about it.” VIDEO | Dott
Scooter Consolidation: Latin American ecommerce firm Peixe is in talks to acquire Grow Mobility. “Terms of the deal are still being finalized. One scenario under discussion is a cashless transaction in which Grow would receive shares in Peixe.” | Reuters
San Francisco based operator Go X teams up with Tortoise for an automated scooter pilot branded as “Go X Apollo”. Here’s a sneak peek video via Instagram. | Go X
Defunct personal electric vehicle startup Inboard is auctioning off hundreds of eSkateboards and scooters. | Silicon Valley Disposition
Spin confirms its plans to go international with a launch in Germany this spring, as US based operators like Bird, Lime, and JUMP turn their eyes onto Europe this summer. Related: Uber plans to ‘double down’ on bikes and scooters next year — especially in Europe. | The Verge
Lime partners with Nike for the Tel Aviv Marathon. | Lime
Lyft flags production delays for scooter, bike parts due to coronavirus. | Reuters
Micromobility vehicle brand Boosted lays off a “significant portion” of their team as they look for a buyer. Related: Shoot us a note if you are hiring hardware engineers! | Techcrunch

Product Launches & Updates

Uber is testing a new pilot program that increases ride prices in city centers, while decreasing prices in the suburbs. “The goal of this pilot is to improve reliability in the busiest parts of these cities, while making it more affordable to use Uber outside the city center.” Maybe Uber can start to nudge more riders in city centers to take a bike or scooter? | The Rideshare Guy
Bird charging docks were spotted outside of their Santa Monica HQ. | Juan Matute

Ridehailing & Carsharing

This week in cloud kitchens: Walmart exec and founder of jet.com invests in Food Truck Inc, a ghost kitchen startup targeting suburban households using a fleet of hybrid vans outfitted with ventless kitchens. “Ingredients would be packaged into kits from the warehouse commissary, loaded onto trucks, and cooked en-route to families who can order across a variety of cuisines.” | Hngry
Uber’s latest app redesign was inspired by public transit. | Fast Company
In memory of Car2go - from the founders of shared moped startup Revel: “I often say that Revel was born in Brooklyn, and it’s the truth. What I haven’t told most people is that, if we’re being really specific, our company was born in a car2go.“ | Frank Reig
The 2020 free floating carshare report. “Despite recent media coverage and adjustments by selected providers in certain markets, car sharing demand and supply is set to grow and increase in 2020.” | Augustin Friedel

Investment & Deals

Miami based micromobility startup Bolt raised a $30 million Series A. | Axios
Waymo raised $2.25 billion in outside capital. | VentureBeat

Cities & Policy

How does improper micromobility parking compare to car parking? “The study found that parking noncompliance rates across the five cities were far higher for motor vehicles (24.7% of 2,631 motor vehicles observed) than for micromobility vehicles (0.8% of 865 scooter and bike observations).” | Cornell
Does ridehailing affect bikeshare usage? A study from researchers in Budapest indicates the two modes might compliment each other: “Our results show that banning Uber caused a significant decrease in usage among frequent users especially on weekdays, suggesting a complementary relationship between these services.“ | David Zipper

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