Micro-EV subscription startup Dance, which launched in 2020, has raised an additional €12 million in an equity and debt round led by existing investors HV Capital, Eurazeo and BlueYard. Dance was launched out of Berlin by former SoundCloud and Jimdo founders, but since last year is now also available in Paris, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna.
In 2020, Dance closed a $17.7 million Series A, led by HV Holtzbrinck Ventures.
Dance is tapping into the next iteration of EV / micromobility in the form of the subscription model. Think about it: It’s easier and cheaper to subscribe to an expensive e-bike than to buy it and have it stolen, right?
Dance says its largest market is Paris, where it claims it has seen good uptake as a result of the city’s plans to build 1,000 km of bike lanes and 52 km more in the coming years.
The company offers electric bikes and mopeds on a monthly subscription basis, which come with servicing, repairs, theft insurance and replacement bikes in the case of theft. The vehicles are also now being offered as an employee benefit, via Dance For Business, and has signed-up partners including Google and Urban Sports Club. A new partnership with the startup IoT Venture means Dance bikes can sometimes be more easily located and recovered in the case of theft.
In a statement, Dance founder and CEO Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss said: “We started last year with a few hundred members in Berlin and have quickly grown to many thousands across Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna validating the demand for our sustainable mobility solutions and the power of subscriptions versus owning or sharing a vehicle.”
Also participating in this latest round were: Winthrop Square Capital, Joe Zadeh (Ex Airbnb), Max Ciociola (founder & CEO Musixmatch), Julian Teicke (founder & CEO Wefox), David Eriksson (co-founder teenage engineering), Katharina Kurz (founder BRLO), Ryan Johnson (founder & CEO Culdesac), and Kristian Rädle & Frank Wiedemann (Âme).
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