- Swedish scooter startup Voi has been picked to run a trial in Liverpool.
- Voi will provide around 300 electric scooters for locals and visitors to unlock and ride around the city.
- It comes after the UK recently opened up trials for e-scooter rentals during the pandemic, as an alternative to crowded public transport.
- Electric scooters were previously illegal on public UK streets and pavements, and you're still not legally permitted to ride your own privately-owned scooter.
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Swedish scooter startup Voi has continued its march into the UK transport market after being exclusively awarded an e-scooter rental trial for Liverpool, a major urban hub.
Voi, founded in 2018, also recently won a 12-month trial in the West Midlands that covers cities like Birmingham, and Coventry, and won tenders in Cambridge and Northamptonshire.
The win means Voi will provide around 300 electric scooters for Liverpudlians and city visitors to rent out by the minute and travel around the city. The bid included an obligation to use charging stations operated in partnership with scooter charging startup, Charge.
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Voi's win is against the backdrop of a bigger fight among scooter rental startups in Europe. Well-funded US players Bird and Lime have used their arsenal of venture capital funding to expand onto the continent, but have begun to lose out to smaller local copycats as Europe's cities limit the number of operators and issue tenders.
Voi will be keen to win as many UK markets as possible after losing out in lucrative tenders for Paris and Lyon in France earlier this year.
Although rental scooters have become a common sight in many European cities, traffic laws and vehicle restrictions previously stopped scooter companies from launching fully in the UK.
During the coronavirus pandemic the UK government adopted new rules to allow rental scooters for use on roads and cycle lanes. It set a speed limit of 15 mph, and said riders would not need to wear a helmet by law. Riding a private scooter remains illegal.
"The UK with its 50 city trials, will be the largest e scooter market in Europe and we plan to be the leading operator," Voi CEO Fredrik Hjelm previously told Business Insider.
Voi is now live in more than 45 cities in 11 countries, and recently raised a fresh $30 million funding round to expand into the UK. It claims revenues grow fifty-fold during 2019, while it increased headcount from 31 at the end of 2018 to 409 staff by the end of 2019.
US operator Lime recently won a trial in Milton Keynes. Other companies interested in the UK market include Spin, which also operates in Milton Keynes, Tier, Bird, and Neuron.