Superpedestrian raises $60M, fueling expansion of LINK scooter fleet

LINK’s record is unique in the industry: no severe injuries, no defects, no lawsuits, no censures from cities, lowest vehicle loss rate of any operator

December 21, 2020 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Brooklyn Eagle reporter Mary Frost took her first ride on a LINK electric scooter, made by Superpedestrian. Photo: John McCarten/Brooklyn Eagle

Share this:

Superpedestrian has secured major financial backing from the Citi Impact Fund, OurCrowd, Winthrop Square Capital, and others–part of a new $60 million investment in the transportation robotics company that will fuel responsible growth of its LINK scooter fleet equipped with unique On-Board Intelligence and an active safety system.

Superpedestrian is the only true tech company in an industry of service companies. Spun out of MIT, it invested 8 years and $75 million to patent more than 30 electric vehicle technologies that have resulted in the only e-scooter with On-Board Intelligence, giving LINK scooters a competitive advantage in safety and reliability.

After expanding to 12 cities in 2020, LINK’s record is unique in the industry: no severe injuries, no defects, no lawsuits, no censures from cities and the lowest vehicle loss rate of any operator. Superpedestrian is now vying for coveted permits in New York City and other major global cities.

Representatives from LINK and Transportation Alternatives posed with LINK e-scooters and bikes at Friday’s bike match event at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Photo: John McCarten/Brooklyn Eagle

“While other companies treated cities as test labs, we invested years in the technology behind LINK before we applied for a single city permit. Now, leading investors like Citi and major cities around the world are seeing what we can do, and are choosing LINK. We are showing what it means to provide a truly safe and inclusive service as we bring new transportation options to neighborhoods in need,” said Superpedestrian founder and CEO Assaf Biderman.

“Superpedestrian’s LINK fleet aims for the double bottom line we look for through the Citi Impact Fund, benefitting both communities and investors. They’ve taken time to get the technology right, the growth has been sustainable and their product is profitable,” said Ed Skyler, Citi’s Executive Vice President for Global Public Affairs. “As the density of cities increase, there is huge demand for safe, sustainable transportation options and we’re excited to partner with Superpedestrian, especially given our support of the country’s largest bike-share program, Citi Bike.”

OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved said, “Superpedestrian’s dramatic technology lead in the scooter market is translating into business leadership. Because the platform is safer and smarter, LINK has better unit economics than any competitor.”

From the outside, Superpedestrian’s custom-engineered LINK scooter looks like any other scooter, just more rugged, but inside it packs game changing technology that protects the rider and the vehicle itself, in real-time. LINK is the industry’s first and only e-scooter with On-Board Intelligence capable of autonomous maintenance and safety-verification before every ride. Each vehicle has five computers that act as an “A.I. Mechanic” monitoring every component thousands of times per second, instantly self-repairing the electronic systems.

A health worker picked up her new bike at the Brooklyn Navy Yard bike match event.

Whereas other companies spend days transporting vehicles in need of repair to warehouses for diagnostics and maintenance, Superpedestrian can resolve issues autonomously in the field. That means LINK scooters are always verified safe to ride and LINK fleets have the industry’s highest reliability, accessibility and availability.

LINK has thousands of vehicles on the road across 12 cities, from Seattle to Rome, and has a demonstrated record of high performance:
● 98.7% of LINK scooters deployed in 2020 are still on the road today—achieving by far the lowest loss rate of any operator
● Zero serious injuries on LINK scooters
● Zero vehicle recalls or manufacturing defects
● Zero instances of over- or under-fleeting a city, providing the proper number of scooters at all times
● LINK’s on-board A.I. Mechanic has performed 84,500 autonomous repairs ensuring vehicles are safe to ride
● The industry’s only on-board geofence, instantly reacts with a less than 1 second enforcement to slow and stop a scooter from entering a no-ride-zone, protecting pedestrians and keeping scooters off sidewalks