Amsterdam-based scooter startup Dott raises $70M in new funding to roll out new e-bikes and expand into new cities and countries

The electric scooter market space is saturated with hundreds of startups competing for their shares of the market. The two biggest players Bird and Lime have raised about $1 billion in funding as they expand their presence in the US Europe. However, one small startup has been making inroads in the European market that many estimated could be worth about $35 billion.

Enter Dott, a new scooter and electric bike rental startup founded in 2018 by two former executives of Chinese bike startup Ofo, Maxim Romain, and Henri Moissinac. After surviving the Chinese bike-sharing bubble, the duo decided to launch Dott, a micro-mobility European startup that offers dock-less, shared electrical scooters, and bikes as alternatives for short-distance travel.

Today, the Amsterdam-based Dott said it had raised an extra $70 million to roll out new e-bikes, expand into new cities and countries and offer more services. The announcement comes a year after the company raised $85 million in the Series B funding. The latest round brings the total money raised by Dott to around $210 million.

In a statement, Dott Chief Executive Henri Moissinac said, “We’re all on this crusade against personal cars. We want to make it super simple for anyone who wants to ditch their own car to have other transportation modes.”

In 2018, the year it was founded, Dott raised €20 million ($23 million) from media firm Naspers, European venture capital firm EQT Ventures, and a number of other backers, including Axel Springer. In 2019, Dott ran a pilot program with 100 scooters in the French capital’s startup hub Station F.

We covered Dott last year after the company launched its brand new e-bikes, with the first vehicles now available on the streets of Paris. By the end of the year, Dott says 3,000 e-bikes will be in operation in the city and several thousand across Europe, providing a new way to get around and making it easier for more people to choose through one single app the type of environmentally friendly travel that’s best for them.

Dott’s e-bikes have been designed to make cities easier, helping more people travel in the most efficient way. Free from the restrictions of traffic, and without causing pollution, e-bikes provide an enjoyable way to take in the sights of the streets whilst moving around the city in the open air. The distinctive design, fitted with lights, reflectors and a basket has been created to provide a safe and comfortable journey that will be an improvement on the familiar experience of riding a bike.

Following the launch in Paris, e-bikes will soon be available in Rome, Milan, Brussels and London as Dott expands its operations beyond e-scooters to encourage more people to switch to sustainable travel.

With speeds up to 25kph, Dott’s e-bikes make an efficient transport choice. Parking will be permitted in the mixed micro-mobility spots for e-bikes and e-scooters, as well as in over 6,300 public bike racks, providing more flexibility for riders to easily find a vehicle and finish their ride close to their destination.

Competitive e-bike pricing will be equal to Dott’s e-scooters. Passes are available to reduce costs for regular riders and can be combined across both types of transport, allowing users to pick the mode that best suits them at any time, seamlessly through a single app.

Dott Team