Superpedestrian

Last updated
Superpedestrian
Company type Private
IndustryRobotics, Transportation, Micromobility, E-scooters
Founded2013
Headquarters
Cambridge, Massachusetts
,
United States
Area served
Global
Key people
Julian Alexander Hahn and Mats André Breesth, Founders of SURF Beyond and Co CEO´s of SP
Website superpedestrian.com
Footnotes /references
[1] [2]

Superpedestrian Inc., is a transportation robotics company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that developed electrified and AI technologies for micro mobility vehicles. The company ran the LINK e-scooter sharing program, which was active in 57 cities [3] across the US and Europe.

Contents

In December 2023 Tech Crunch reported that the business would close by December 31, 2023, with all scooters recalled into warehousing. [4]

Superpedestrian was acquired in February 2024 by the Norwegian SURF Beyond group led by the two founders Julian Alexander Hahn and Mats André Breesth.

History

Superpedestrian's first product, The Copenhagen Wheel, was developed at MIT's Senseable City Lab in 2009 in partnership with the city of Copenhagen, and unveiled at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference. In December 2012, Assaf Biderman, a co-inventor of the Wheel and associate director of the MIT Senseable City Lab, founded Superpedestrian to commercialize the Wheel. After several years of engineering, testing, and validation, the Copenhagen Wheel officially launched in April 2017.[ citation needed ]

In December 2018, the Boston Business Journal reported the company would shift its focus to start building electric scooters and supplying the scooter sharing fleet operators such as Bird and Lime. [5] In 2020, the company instead began operating shared scooter fleets itself in the US, before expanding to Italy and Spain. [6] In 2021, the company opened sharing services in Austria, Sweden [7] and Portugal. [8]

Products

Superpedestrian scooter in Nuremberg. Superpedestrian Scooter Nurnberg Rathenauplatz 01.jpg
Superpedestrian scooter in Nuremberg.

VIS

The Vehicle Intelligent Safety system (VIS) is a network of sensors, micro-computers and AI that enable micromobility vehicles to self-detect problems and respond. [9]

Copenhagen Wheel

The Copenhagen Wheel in 2017. Copenhagen Wheel, 2017.png
The Copenhagen Wheel in 2017.

The Copenhagen Wheel converted bicycles into e-bikes. It replaced the existing rear wheel. The Copenhagen Wheel contained a custom brushless motor, advanced sensors, control systems, and a lithium-ion battery, all contained within the hub of a single rear bicycle wheel. Combining actual torque, power, cadence, pedal position, and acceleration sensing with high-speed controllers and actuators, the Wheel generated power that seamlessly synchronized with a rider's pedalling.[ citation needed ]

Bluetooth connectivity enabled riders to personalize their cycling experience from their smartphone. A self-diagnostic safety system (VIS) monitored components and proactively responded to events within milliseconds, protecting both rider and Wheel.[ citation needed ]

The Copenhagen Wheel is no longer available for sale.[ citation needed ]

The company no longer responds to emailed requests for assistance, and login to utilize the wheel via the app no longer functions, stranding purchasers with a non-functioning wheel.

LINK scooters in Downtown Los Angeles. Superpedestrian Link scooters, 2021.jpg
LINK scooters in Downtown Los Angeles.

LINK is a shared electric scooter designed, engineered, manufactured and operated by Superpedestrian.[ citation needed ]

During prototype road-testing, it was called "the Volvo of e-scooters" [10] for its robust build quality.

The LINK scooter features an operating system that can be updated wirelessly, over-the-air. The second version of the operating system was released in March 2021 and is called "Briggs". [11]

On board the scooter, VIS runs 1,000 health checks every second during rides [12] and monitors 140 safety-critical conditions. [13] VIS also allows the scooter to enforce onboard geofence commands in 0.7s.

LINK has a 61-mile battery range.[ citation needed ]

According to Superpedestrian's VP (EMEA), Haya Verwoord Douidi, the LINK scooter cost $75 million in R&D. [6]

Scooter sharing

In June 2020, Zagster was bought by Superpedestrian to create an in-house shared mobility division [14] using LINK scooters.

Superpedestrian beat Bird in a competitive tender process in September 2020 to offer e-scooters in Seattle, US. [15]

By April 2021, the company was operating shared e-scooters in 21 cities [15] and announced plans to begin e-scooter sharing services in Ireland. [16]

In May 2021, LINK scooters were available in 30 cities in the US, Spain, Italy and Austria.

Superpedestrian partnered with ACI in May 2021 to launch a safety course for e-scooter riders in Italy. [17]

In December 2021, Superpedestrian acquired the UK subsidiary of Wind Mobility, [18] which operates the e-scooter trial zone in Nottingham. The company then replaced the scooter fleet with its proprietary model.

Silicon Republic reported in February 2022 that Superpedestrian was operating shared mobility fleets in 57 cities in the US and Europe. [3]

Labor

Superpedestrian states that it has never used gig workers in its history, in contrast to the early shared e-scooter sector. [15]

Paul Steely White, a long-time active travel advocate in New York City, is Public Affairs Director at Superpedestrian. [15]

Haya Verwoord Douidri left Bird to join Superpedestrian on 1 July 2020, heading up the company's scooter expansion in Europe. [19]

Funding

In December 2020, the company secured $60 million [20] in funding to scale-up e-scooter sharing fleets. Investors included Citi Impact Fund.

In February 2022, the Boston Globe revealed that Superpedestrian had secured new investment of $125 million. [21] Investors included the Sony Investment Fund.

In December 2023 TechCrunch reported that the business would close by December 31, 2023, with all scooters recalled into warehousing. [4] [22]

Awards

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kick scooter</span> Human-powered land vehicle

A kick scooter is a human-powered street vehicle with a handlebar, deck, and wheels propelled by a rider pushing off the ground with their leg. Today the most common scooters are made of aluminum, titanium, and steel. Some kick scooters made for younger children have 3 to 4 wheels and are made of plastic and do not fold. High-performance kickbikes are also made. A company that had once made the Razor Scooters revitalized the design in the mid-nineties and early two-thousands. Three-wheel models where the frame forks into two decks are known as Y scooters or trikkes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorized scooter</span> Powered stand-up scooter

A motorized scooter is a stand-up scooter powered by either a small internal combustion engine or electric hub motor in its front and/or rear wheel. Classified as a form of micromobility, they are generally designed with a large center deck on which the rider stands. The first motorized scooter was manufactured by Autoped in 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zagster</span> American startup company

Zagster was a venture-funded startup company based in Boston, Massachusetts that designed, built and operated bike sharing programs for cities, universities, corporate campuses, hotels, and residential communities across the United States. As of July 2019, it operated over 200 bike sharing programs. The bicycle program was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then the company terminated all operations in June 2020.

Moovit is an Israel-based mobility as a service provider and journey planner app. It is owned by Mobileye and was acquired by Intel in 2020 until Mobileye's IPO in 2022. Moovit uses both crowdsourced and official public transit data to provide route planning to users as well as transit data APIs to transit companies, cities, and transit agencies. Because Moovit integrates crowdsourced data, it can provide transit information for areas where no data is officially available.

Gogoro Inc. is a Taiwanese company that developed a battery-swapping refueling platform for urban electric two-wheel scooters, mopeds and motorcycles. It also develops its own line of electric scooters and offers its own vehicle innovations to vehicle maker partners like Yamaha, Aeon Motor, PGO, eReady, and eMOVING. Gogoro also operates GoShare, a rideshare service, in Taiwan and Ishigaki Island in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolt (company)</span> Peer-to-peer ridesharing, food delivery

Bolt is an Estonian mobility company that offers ride-hailing, micromobility rental, food and grocery delivery, and carsharing services. The company is headquartered in Tallinn and operates in over 500 cities in more than 45 countries in Europe, Africa, Western Asia and Latin America. The company has more than 150 million customers and more than 3 million driver and courier partners. The company has plans for an initial public offering in 2025.

Mobility as a service (MaaS) is a type of service that enables users to plan, book, and pay for multiple types of mobility services through an integrated platform. Transportation services from public and private transportation providers are combined through a unified gateway, usually via an app or website, that creates and manages the trip and payments, including subscriptions, with a single account. The key concept behind MaaS is to offer travelers flexible mobility solutions based on their travel needs, thus "mobility as a service" also refers to the broader concept of a shift away from personally-owned modes of transportation and towards mobility provided as a service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lime (transportation company)</span> American micromobility company

Neutron Holdings, Inc., doing business under the name Lime, formerly LimeBike, is an American transportation company based in San Francisco, California. It runs electric scooters, electric bikes and electric mopeds in more than 200 cities in nearly 30 countries around the world. The system offers dockless vehicles that users find and unlock via a smartphone app that knows the location of available vehicles via GPS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spin (company)</span>

Spin is an electric bicycle-sharing and electric scooter-sharing company. It is based in San Francisco and was founded as a start-up in 2017, launching as a dockless bicycle-sharing system controlled by a mobile app for reservations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euwyn Poon</span> Singapore-born entrepreneur (born 1984)

Euwyn Poon is a Singapore-born entrepreneur who founded Spin, a shared electric scooter company based in San Francisco that was acquired by Ford in 2018, and is the founding partner of venture capital firm Moso Capital. Poon graduated from Cornell University in 2004 at the age of 18 with a degree in Computer Science and Cornell Law School in 2007. After earning a J.D. from Cornell Law School, he practiced M&A and securities law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett from 2007 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GenZe (company)</span> Brand of electric bicycles and scooters

Mahindra GenZe, doing business as GenZe and also known as GenZe by Mahindra, was a brand of electric bicycles and scooters. It was a subsidiary of the Mahindra Group of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scoot Networks</span>

Scoot Networks, also known as just Scoot or Scoot Rides, is an American company which provides public electric scooter and electric bicycle sharing systems. The company is based in San Francisco, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bird Global</span> Dockless scooter-sharing provider

Bird Global, Inc. is a micromobility company based in Miami, Florida. Founded in September 2017, Bird has distributed electric scooters designed for short-term rental to over 400 cities. In April 2024, it was acquired by Third Lane Mobility to avoid bankruptcy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scooter-sharing system</span> Service for short-term scooter rentals

A scooter-sharing system or kicksharing system is a shared transport service in which electric motorized scooters are made available to use for short-term rentals. E-scooters are typically "dockless", meaning that they do not have a fixed home location and are dropped off and picked up from certain locations in the service area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Travis VanderZanden</span> American businessman

Travis VanderZanden is an American businessman and the founder and former CEO of Bird, a scooter sharing service owned by Third Lane Mobility. Before founding Bird, VanderZanden was Chief Operating Officer at Lyft, then VP of International Growth at Uber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micromobility</span> Modes of transport involving very light vehicles

Micromobility refers to a range of small, lightweight vehicles, driven by users personally. Micromobility devices include bicycles, velomobiles, e-bikes, electric scooters, electric skateboards, shared bicycle fleets, and electric pedal assisted (pedelec) bicycles.

FREENOW is a mobility service provider headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. FREENOW was formed in February 2019 from a joint venture between BMW and Daimler Mobility. Thomas Zimmermann is CEO of the FREENOW Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helbiz</span>

Helbiz, Inc. is an Italian-American intra-urban transportation company headquartered in New York City with an aim to solve the first mile/last mile transportation problem of high-traffic urban areas around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zapp Electric Vehicles</span> British electric motorcycle manufacturer

Zapp Electric Vehicles is a British electric motorcycle manufacturer founded in 2017, led by a team of industry experts. The company's first product, the i300, is an electric urban high-performance two-wheeler designed to deliver motorcycle-like performance in a step-through format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ola Electric</span> Indian electric scooter manufacturer

Ola Electric Mobility is an Indian electric vehicle manufacturer company founded in 2017 by Bhavish Aggarwal. Headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka, the company designs and manufactures electric two-wheelers, including the Ola S1 in three variants named Ola S1 Air, Ola S1X and S1 Pro. It has its manufacturing facility located in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu.

References

  1. ↑ "CNBC: Upstart 25: Superpedestrian". CNBC . 28 February 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "Bloomberg: Company Overview of Superpedestrian Inc". Bloomberg . Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  3. 1 2 Gain, Vish (2022-02-01). "Superpedestrian raises $125m as it eyes Ireland for R&D base". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  4. 1 2 Scooter startup Superpedestrian shutting down US operations, exploring sale of Europe business TechCrunch, December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023
  5. ↑ O'Brien, Kelly J. (2018-12-04). "MIT-born Superpedestrian to sell electric scooters". Boston Business Journal . Retrieved 2018-12-05.
  6. 1 2 Superpedestrian. "Superpedestrian führt LINK E-Scooter in Wien ein". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  7. ↑ ""Elsparkcyklarnas Volvo" till Sverige – säkrar färden med ai". Dagens industri (in Swedish). 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  8. ↑ Sousa, Jéssica (2021-06-02). "Chegou uma nova operadora de mobilidade partilhada a Lisboa com mil trotinetes elétricas prontas para circular". O Jornal Económico (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  9. ↑ ""When you're in the zone, you're in the zone." - Haya Douidri of Superpedestrian". electrive.com. 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  10. ↑ Scott Kirsner (July 8, 2019). "This could be the Volvo of e-scooters". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  11. ↑ "Superpedestrian positions itself as the go-to partner for cities with new e-scooter safety upgrades – TechCrunch". TechCrunch. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  12. ↑ "Superpedestrian positions itself as the go-to partner for cities with new e-scooter safety upgrades – TechCrunch". techcrunch. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  13. ↑ LU, Shiang-Lin; MATSUMI, Ryosuke; SHINO, Motoki (2019). "Study of Automated Driving System for Mobility Scooter Based on Traveling Possibility Judgements by Onboard Sensors Information". The Proceedings of the Transportation and Logistics Conference. 2019 (28): 2016. doi:10.1299/jsmetld.2019.28.2016. ISSN   2424-3175. S2CID   226879517.
  14. ↑ Kanige, Jeffrey (2020-06-04). "Edison-backed Zagster sold to Superpedestrian". NJBIZ. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Seabrook, John. "The E-Scooters Loved by Silicon Valley Roll Into New York". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  16. ↑ "Citi-backed e-scooter firm plans Irish launch". independent. 4 April 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  17. ↑ "Superpedestrian partners with ACI to launch e-scooter training course". Zag. 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  18. ↑ Zagnat, Olimpia (2021-12-14). "Big changes to city's e-scooters to address concerns". NottinghamshireLive. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  19. ↑ "Haya Verwoord Douidri wants to change the world". Zag. 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  20. ↑ Berger, Paul (2020-12-21). "Superpedestrian Gets $60 Million Funding Boost in New York Push". The Wall Street Journal . ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  21. ↑ Aaron Pressman (February 1, 2022). "MIT startup gets more backing for smarter electric scooters". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  22. ↑ Disappearance of city's 'nuisance' e-scooters welcomed by residents Nottinghamshire Live , December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 29, 2023
  23. 1 2 "The Copenhagen Wheel". www.productdesignaward.eu. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  24. ↑ "The Copenhagen Wheel". www.productdesignaward.eu. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  25. ↑ "The Copenhagen Wheel". www.productdesignaward.eu. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  26. ↑ "7. Superpedestrian: High-efficiency bicycle wheels for urban commuters". CNBC. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  27. ↑ "These Are the Best New Gadgets of 2017 So Far". Time. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  28. 1 2 "Red Dot Design Award for Design Concepts". Red Dot Design Award. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  29. ↑ "These Are the 25 Best Inventions of 2014". Time. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  30. ↑ "The Copenhagen Wheel". The Copenhagen Wheel. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  31. ↑ "Green Dot Awards | Environment Awards". Green Dot Awards. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  32. ↑ "Farglory Nominates Five Technologies for its new Smart Communities in Taipei". PRWeb. Archived from the original on March 27, 2011. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  33. ↑ "The Copenhagen Wheel - INDEX: Design to Improve Life®". INDEX: Design to Improve Life®. 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  34. ↑ "Edison Awards™ - Honoring the Best in Innovation and Innovators" . Retrieved 2018-08-01.
  35. ↑ "2010 James Dyson Award Competition US Winner - Design Milk". Design Milk. 2010-08-16. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.