Swiftmile has raised $5 million as it looks to further deployment of its charging stations for e-bikes and e-scooters throughout US and European cities.
The investment round, led by Thayer Ventures with participation from Verizon Ventures, Alumni Ventures Groups and WSGR, brings total Swiftmile funding to $11 million.
The startup works with cities to integrate charging hubs, and charges its operates by the minute. Initially, the docking systems will be open to all operators in order to showcase how Swiftmile works and how beneficial it can be.
With the new funding, Swiftmile plans to deploy its systems in three additional US cities, as well as work toward expanding throughout Europe.
“What’s happening today is streets are being totally reimagined,” Swiftmile co-founder and CEO Colin Roche told TechCrunch. “If you talk to any city planner, the old rules are being thrown out and new ones are being written. Public transportation use has plummeted because people are scared of [COVID-19] transmission in closed environments. We went from being a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘need to have’.”