Nuked Boston-Based startup Superpedestrian is launching a shared electric scooter-sharing service called link. Link is built around the Super durable and smart e-scooters the company announced in late 2018.
Superpedestrian is acquiring’substantially all of the assets’ of fellow Boston mobility startup zagster. It is the latest in a rash of consolidations in the space brought on by the covid-19 pandemic.
Superpedestrian has been trialing link in Fort Pierce, Florida for about five months. It’s now about to move forward with a wider launch.
The Verge is hiring operations associates or managers in Columbus, Ohio, and Asbury Park, New Jersey. Link has already deployed e-scooters in Provo, Utah, and is also hiring in Salt Lake City.
Superpedestrian was spun out of MIT’s SENSEable City lab in 2009 in an effort to commercialize an e-bike accessory called the Copenhagen wheel. The startup announced in late 2018 that it had raised another $ 20 million, bringing its total funding to $ 64 million.
The superpedestrian-designed scooters performed really well during that test run. They can last for 2,500 rides, well above the average lifetime of other e-scooters.
The e-scooters use onboard computing power to determine what components will need servicing and when. Fewer problems mean link needs fewer people tending to the e-scooters, as does longer-lasting hardware.
Biderman says the onset of the covid-19 pandemic accelerated the acquisition process. He says he started discussions with zagster about an acquisition soon after they partnered on the Florida project.
zagster was founded in 2007, well ahead of the birds and limes of the world. The company has operated bike-share and e-scooter fleets in dozens of cities across the U.S..
zagster shut down its services in late March as the pandemic spread throughout the U.S.. The company says it is necessary to prioritize the safety of its maintenance staff and other riders.
Multiple zagster employees have left the company, according to their LinkedIn profiles. zagster suddenly started winding down the bike-share services it operated around the country last week.
The effects of covid-19 on our communities has been tragic,’ zagster said in an email to the city officials it had been working with.’this was a difficult decision but a necessary one,’ he said.
zagster is leaving without any intention to repay the $ 90,000 he collected from local communities and groups to fund the program for 2020. The nonprofit’s attorney will send a letter to zagster demanding the repayment.
zagster lost his job a few weeks ago, according to a LinkedIn post. Attempts to reach more than a dozen other employees and board members went unanswered.
