Zipp Mobility secures €1.3m in funding to support e-scooter expansion

Micromobility operator raised more than €500k through crowdfunding campaign

Trade

Charlie Gleeson, founder and CEO, Zipp Mobility

12 August 2021

Zipp Mobility, the Irish shared micromobility operator, has closed a €1.3 million funding round, bringing its total raised to over €2 million.

The Irish start-up secured €500,000 from two prominent angel investors, including Barry Maloney, chairman of Workhuman, €250,000 from Enterprise Ireland and €562,000 through a crowdfunding campaign on the Spark Crowdfunding platform.

A number of high-profile private investors, including former Irish rugby international Brian O’Driscoll, have already invested in the company.

Zipp Mobility was founded in 2019 by Charlie Gleeson is headquartered at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin. It currently employs a staff of 25 and expects to grow the team to 35 by the end of 2021.

The company is currently operating e-scooter schemes in eight cities across Poland and the UK. It plans to significantly increase the number of e-scooters it operates in the coming months as it prepares to roll-out its shared e-scooter service across Ireland – pending e-scooter legislative approval – expand current operations and launch in additional European countries.

Zipp is already in close discussions with a number of local authorities in advance of the expected approval by the Dáil later this year of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill which will allow for the regulation of e-scooters on Irish roads.

Gleeson said: “We have experienced great momentum in the last 12 months, showcasing our service to hundreds of thousands of people across the UK and mainland Europe. We are now excited to grow our European position, following our latest funding round, by continuing to offer sustainable transport alternatives to millions of people across the continent.

“Over the last two years we have been in discussions with Irish local authorities, and we have been sharing our international experience with them to ensure that scooter-sharing schemes are rolled out safely and responsibly once e-scooters are legalised in Ireland.”

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