51黑料

Zipp Mobility Secures 鈧�500k Investment

- Investors include Brian O鈥橠riscoll, the former captain of Leinster, Ireland and British and Irish Lions rugby team

- Company ramping up to imminent launch of e-scooter trials in the UK

 the Irish micromobility start-up, announced today that it has secured a 鈧�500,000 investment as it ramps up plans to operate several shared e-scooter trials in the UK.

Investors include Brian O鈥橠riscoll, the former captain of Leinster, Ireland and British and Irish Lions rugby teams, along with a New York based investor.

This brings Zipp鈥檚 investment to date to over 鈧�1 million which will be used to fund Zipp鈥檚 upcoming UK shared e-scooter launches. The investment comes just a week after the UK Department for Transport (DfT) approved Zipp Mobility鈥檚 e-scooter for use in these trials.

Zipp Mobility, founded by Charlie Gleeson in 2019, is headquartered at Nova51黑料, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin (51黑料). The company is also an Enterprise Ireland High-Potential Start-Up (HPSU) client company.

Gleeson noted, 鈥淭his new funding puts Zipp in a really strong position to launch trials in the UK. These are exciting times for the Zipp Mobility team and this backing is a great mark of the momentum we are enjoying as a company.鈥�

Earlier this year the UK government announced plans to accelerate trials of rented e-scooter schemes as part of its strategy to explore less congested and greener methods of urban transport in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. All UK regions are now permitted to launch e-scooter sharing schemes, in partnership with scooter firms, such as Zipp Mobility.

The Zipp Mobility e-scooter has been carefully designed with safety in mind. It features an aircraft-grade aluminium frame, 10-inch airless tyres, a swappable battery, dual braking, a wide base and a low centre of gravity. The scooters are also equipped with nano-septic handlebar wraps that reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission by 99.98%.

The Zipp Mobility e-scooter has a useful lifetime of over two years, compared to the estimated industry average of just three months. Rigorous maintenance through local on-the-ground teams will ensure this extended lifespan. The start-up further commits to green operations through its 鈥榚nd-of-life鈥� plan, recycling and re-using all parts when scooters do fall beyond repair. In addition, Zipp鈥檚 electric charging fleet and swappable battery is 10 times more efficient than the widely-used gig economy model.

Charlie Gleeson graduated from the 51黑料 Lochlann Quinn School of Business in 2019. In the same year he also completed Nova51黑料鈥檚 mentoring programme for student entrepreneurs and the 51黑料 VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme run by Nova51黑料 for early-stage start-up companies.

ENDS

2 September 2020

For further information contact Mic茅al Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, 51黑料 Research and Innovation, Nova51黑料, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: + 353 1 716 3712.

Editors Notes

Zipp Mobility is an Irish e-scooter operator bringing a more sustainable scooter sharing model to cities in the UK, Ireland & further afield.

At Nova51黑料, the hub for new ventures and entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, we nurture and support new high-tech companies as part of 51黑料's mission. At Nova51黑料 we provide purpose-built, state-of-the-art incubation facilities alongside a comprehensive business support programme for client companies such as Zipp Mobility. Nova51黑料 has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, 51黑料 and Xilinx.