AppScooter Raises Angel Round of 1 Million Euros via Online Crowdfunding

DELFT, Netherlands - The Dutch startup Bolt Mobility raised with its first product, the AppScooter®, the largest online angel investment round ever on online crowdfunding platform Leapfunder. The target amount of one million euros was exactly met. With the investment, Bolt Mobility aims to further perfect the prototype of the AppScooter and have it production ready in 2016. In a presale campaign Bolt has already sold 75 AppScooters, amounting to a total sales value of EUR 225,000.

While cars are moving towards a self-driving and fully electric future, the cities of Europe are still crowded with noisy and polluting scooters and mopeds. Bolt Mobility redesigned the scooter with 21st century technology, to create a combination of Tesla and iPhone on two wheels: the AppScooter. Faster, more durable and greener than the millions of petrol powered scooters currently on the road. Cheaper, smarter and more connected than any electric scooter available.

Do much better

During his studies, Bolt co-founder Marijn Flipse (22) considered buying a moped for the daily commute. "But I didn’t want any of the regular scooters. They're loud, they make your clothes smell like petrol, they move slow and research shows they are up to 2700 times more polluting than a modern van. So I looked at an electric alternative. But all I could find were regular scooters of poor quality, clumsily fitted with an electric motor. I knew I could do much better."

What is the AppScooter?

Together with co-founder Bart Jacobsz Rosier, Flipse created AppScooter, best described as an iPhone and Tesla on two wheels. The scooter is designed with the 21st century in mind, making use of durable and light materials from the aviation industry and putting 4G-connectivity at the heart of the vehicle. Because of the use of light materials and a powerful electric engine the scooter goes from 0 to 45km/h in only 3,9 seconds, making it faster than any scooter out there. The use of light materials and the same battery cells that are found in Tesla's cars result in a range of 150 kilometers on a single battery charge.

A scooter with apps

Besides this performance, the AppScooter is also smart, with a 4G connection built in. The large dashboard has a range of apps that display essential information about energy levels, speed and navigation without distracting the driver. It even provides control over music, navigation and your favorite apps, bringing an end to the unsafe practice of driving a scooter with a smartphone in hand. The 4G connection, bluetooth and GPS makes it possible to connect to a smartphone and check the battery level, the location of the scooter, or look back and analyze past trips. It also makes over-the-air-updates possible, making the AppScooter the only scooter that gets better over time.

Smart scooter, big market

In Europe, yearly scooter sales are estimated at 1 billion euro, with 100 billion a year in sales worldwide. The Netherlands alone has almost 1 million scooters on the road and more than 60% of those could be considered old and extremely polluting. Bolt Mobility is gearing up to production in the renowned technology incubator YES!Delft, part of the Netherlands' most prominent University of Technology. The first 100 AppScooters will be delivered next summer, Bolt Mobility will open their manufacturing factory before the end of this year. Bolt Mobility recently started a second round of pre-orders in Paris, London, Rome, Milan and Barcelona as well as the whole of The Netherlands. Initially there will be 100 AppScooters available in each city.

Sales and funding

AppScooter is being sold through the website of Bolt Mobility, starting at 2990 euro. The added 24/7 Bolt Mobility Plan costs 29 euro's a month. This provides not only the data bundle for the 4G module in the scooter but also ensures same-day repairs or, worst case scenario, a pick-up with a Bolt Mobility Van to directly replace any part on location.

New investors wanted

Bolt Mobility just closed an angel-investment of 1 million euros through online platform Leapfunder. This is the largest online angel-investment on the platform in The Netherlands to date. The investment is additional to the presale of 75 AppScooters, with a total value of 225.000 euros.

About Bolt Mobility

Bolt Mobility started in 2014 and is based in Delft, The Netherlands. The company is founded by Marijn Flipse, who spent his younger days fixing old scooters to resell them. After he graduated as an engineer at the University of TU Delft, he started to build the Bolt Appscooter from scratch, aided by Eindhoven University of Technology Honors graduate and serial entrepreneur Bart Jacobsz Rosier.