Singapore based e-scooter startup, Neuron Mobility has raised a further US$12 million in Series A funding, led by Australian venture capital firm, Square Peg.
The electric scooter rental operator says the investment will accelerate international expansion, including across Australia and New Zealand, where it’s partnered with councils to operate in nine locations, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Canberra, Townsville and Auckland.
The latest funding round, also backed by GSR Ventures, brings the company’s total Series A funding to US$30.5 million.
Neuron Mobility’s CEO, Zachary Wang says the COVID-19 pandemic has seen cities across the world rethink their transport systems.
“Increasingly people are looking for a safe, inexpensive and socially-distanced way to travel post COVID-19,” Wang says.
“Cities are increasingly open to micro mobility.
“In the last two weeks we have opened in Canberra and Townsville in Australia, and have announced our first location in the UK. The time is right to export our knowhow to new cities across the globe.”
Australian tech-focused venture capital firm, Square Peg, which manages over US$1 billion of committed capital, has a global portfolio of over 35 technology companies, which includes the Canva, PropertyGuru, Stripe and Fiverr.
Square Peg believes that Neuron’s technology and strong partnerships with councils are a key factor in the company’s success.
Square Peg’s Partner, Tushar Roy says Neuron continues to create new technology solutions to address the transport challenges of cities.
“They work closely with councils to implement them in a way that drives better outcomes for the public.
“This approach has seen Neuron introduce a number of world-firsts, cementing them as an industry leader.”
Neuron says it was the first to implement a full suite of geofencing, allowing councils to better control where and how fast e-scooters can be ridden, as well as being the first to feature interchangeable batteries for greener operations.
The company says it intends to launch in five new cities in Australia and New Zealand over the next 12 months and the investment will create around 400 jobs in the region.
Neuron has also announced that it has won a permit to operate in the first of multiple cities in the United Kingdom, as it looks towards international expansion plans.