
Dutch electric smart scooter startup raises €3m
The equity crowdfunding round allows the company to get its configurable ‘AppScooter’ to market in 2018
In Amsterdam, 77% of all scooters on the roads will be subject to new legislation from January 2018 as petrol scooters manufactured before 2011 are phased out. France and Italy have also banned petrol scooter usage in some cities during certain days or times.
By contrast, the UK is lagging behind as the British government recently announced the decision to just ban the sales of diesel and petrol cars by 2040. They have not yet put similar legislation in place to deal with scooters, despite them being bigger polluters than cars, especially as poor air quality is also a growing concern in the UK.
“The proceeds from our latest fundraise will enable us to push the AppScooter into production next year. We aim to have delivered more than a quarter million scooters to customers by 2020,” said Bart Jacobsz Rosier, CEO and co-founder at Bolt.
AppScooter offers the potential to store six battery modules, meaning the scooter can travel as far as 245 miles (400km) on a single charge, which is three times more than any other competitor. The scooters are capable of going from 0 to over 25 miles per hour (45km/h) in 3.3 seconds, making it the fastest accelerating scooter on the market.
Ahead of ordering an AppScooter, customers can customise their electric scooter with options including: colour, motor and battery size, alloys, rims and other extras, including a windscreen
The AppScooter also has an Android-powered 7in touchscreen that has a 4G internet connection, powered by Vodafone. This answers calls, plays music and navigates the routes, texting an arrival time.
