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German micromobility start-up Dance has announced that it has secured €12 million in funding, from existing and new investors.
Dance, an e-mobility subscription service founded by the creators of SoundCloud and Jimdo, said it plans to use the funds to continue its mission of creating liveable cities by offering sustainable transport options.
The brand, which offers electric bikes and mopeds on a monthly subscription basis to thousands of customers, currently operates in five European cities – Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna.
Investment was supplied by existing investors HV Capital, Eurazeo, and Blue Yard, along with new backers including: Winthrop Square Capital, Joe Zadeh (ex-Airbnb), Max Ciociola (founder and CEO Musixmatch), Julian Teicke (founder and CEO Wefox), David Eriksson (co-founder Teenage Engineering), Katharina Kurz (founder BRLO), Ryan Johnson (founder and CEO Culdesac), and Kristian Rädle & Frank Wiedemann (Âme).
Dance founder and CEO Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss said: ““We are proud that we have made great progress in 2022, despite a challenging economic environment. We started last year with a few hundred members in Berlin and have quickly grown to many thousands across Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna validating the demand for our sustainable mobility solutions and the power of subscriptions versus owning or sharing a vehicle.
“With the launch of Dance For Business we enable companies to provide Dance e-bikes and mopeds as an employee benefit. By continuously growing our movement, we are driving the evolution of cities and making a significant, positive contribution to climate change.”
According to a 2022 study by BCG , subscription is the fastest growing category in micromobility, and Dance hopes to be bolstered by increased investment in cycling infrastructure across Europe.
In Paris, Dance’s biggest market, there has been a significant amount of change and investment in infrastructure, including a plan to build upon the current level of 1,000km of bike lanes, 300km of cycle tracks, and 52km of provisional tracks in the coming years.
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Since the launch of its B2B offering, which enables companies to offer Dance bikes and mopeds as an employee benefit, the start-up has been signing up an increasing number of partners such as Google and Urban Sports Club. At the start of the year, Dance announced a partnership with the start-up IoT Venture, a pioneer in the connected bike sector. Their smart technology enables the location and recovery of bikes and protects Dance’s e-bikes even better against theft.
