- Amsterdam-based E-scooter startup Dott has raised $85 million in equity and debt funding.
- Founded in 2018, Dott has brought in fresh capital in a new Series B round led by Sofina.
- Dott says its growth had been slowed down by the pandemic and widespread lockdowns.
- See more stories on Insider's business page .
Dutch e-scooter startup Dott has raised $85 million in a new funding round after the pandemic hampered the widespread adoption of so-called micromobility vehicles.
The Amsterdam-based firm, which was founded in 2018, brought in fresh capital in a new Series B led by Belgian public entity Sofina (Société Financière de Transports et d'Entreprises Industrielles). The new funds are a mix of equity and debt funding.
Dott's funding round follows large recent raises from competitors Tier and Voi . Like other e-scooter startups Dott operates scooters in major cities which can be hired for a nominal fee with a per minute of use charge. Currently the company has more than 30,000 scooters across five countries. Dott was successful in winning last year's highly competitive Paris scooter tender .
"COVID-19 and lockdowns have delayed the growth of Dott and other mobility businesses," Dott CEO and cofounder Henri Moissinac told Insider in an interview. "The debate around unit economics and date has been messed up by the pandemic and postponed but the end point for micro-mobility is the same."
Discussions over funding began in late 2020 but were paused over Christmas before investors became more positive about the likelihood of a strong summer of business after the development of COVID-19 vaccines.
"The funding process is much faster when done remotely and there is less travel for the entrepreneur," Moissinac said. "We were able to show plenty of data around our profitability on a per-ride-basis, our future strategy, and our sustainability plans, which is very important to investors.
The funding is comrised of roughly 60% equity and 40% in the form of asset backed debt financing which will be used to purchase new scooters and then repaid with free cash flow, Moissinac added.
Other investors on the roundinclude EQT Ventures, Prosus Ventures, Aberdeen Standard Investments, Estari, Expon Capital, Felix Capital, FJ Labs, Invest-NL, McRock Capital, and Quadia.
Check out Dott's Series B deck below:
Via PakApNews