EqualOcean has learned that Rybit, a B2B mobility service provider, has successfully secured over USD 10 million in funding. The funding comes from multiple prominent investors, including Cherubic Ventures, an early-stage investor in Flexport, Colopl Next, a venture fund under a Japanese listed gaming company, Cornerstone Ventures, PCHOME e-commerce platform, ChungHwa Telecom, AVA Angels, and several strategic angel investors.
Founded in 2019, Rybit is a global micro-mobility service provider with operations in Europe, the US, and Asia. By integrating expertise in vehicles, IoT, software, and operations, Rybit enables new modes of mobility and delivery.
Currently, Rybit has become the largest intelligent asset management platform for on-demand electric bike fleets in Europe. It manages over 40,000 commercial electric bikes and has provided leasing services in more than 50 cities worldwide over the past two years. Its clients include prominent food and beverage brands such as Domino's Pizza, McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, as well as long-term leasing customers like European and American food delivery platforms and numerous logistics operators.
In recent years, there has been a continuous increase in demand for electric bicycles in the European and American markets. Countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK have implemented incentives to encourage people to commute by bike, leading to a shortage of supply. The COVID-19 pandemic has further fueled the demand for food delivery orders, and this trend has continued even after the pandemic. As a result, food delivery businesses urgently need to expand their fleet of vehicles to meet the increasing demand. Additionally, the rising fees charged by delivery platforms have prompted many businesses to establish and manage their own fleets.
As the co-founder and CEO of Rybit, Lin Jingde has focused on expanding international markets since graduating from Harvard Business School. AfterMeituan's acquisition of Mobike in 2018, Lin Jingde identified the potential in the European and American short-distance travel markets and anticipated the rapid rise of the same-city instant delivery and logistics industry based on lightweight transportation. Taking on the role of an entrepreneur, he officially founded Rybit and assumed the position of CEO, leading a portion of the core Mobike team to delve deeper into addressing the challenges of the "last mile" problem.
Rybit is able to serve both large food delivery platforms and restaurant chains at the local level. Moreover, Rybit addresses the issue of parking space for electric bikes while ensuring the security of the vehicles to prevent asset losses due to damage or theft. This provides businesses with a safer and more reliable parking solution.
According to market research firm Allied Market Research, the global electric bike market is projected to reach USD 118.6 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of over 10%. As a major manufacturer of bicycles and electric bikes, Chinese companies currently ship millions of electric bikes worldwide. This not only revitalizes many traditional bike manufacturers but also fosters the emergence of numerous domestic startups.
Despite the cooling investment climate, investment institutions have still injected over 10 billion Chinese yuan into this field in the past two years. Meanwhile, tech giants Tencent (腾讯), Xiaomi (小米), DJI (大疆), as well as two-wheeler transportation brands Niu Technologies (小牛电动) and Segway-Ninebot (九号公司), have also entered this field and are competing to seize market share.
The funding obtained will be used for the future development of Rybit. Leveraging IoT smart hardware and software technology, Rybit aims to address the demand for B2B electric bikes and other light electric vehicles (LEVs) that are expected to grow over 20 times in the next five years, effectively resolving the last-mile challenges in micro-mobility and micro-logistics sectors.