Brazilian start-up Yellow has raised $9 million in
seed round funding to launch the first dockless bike-sharing service in the country.
Yellow’s founders include Ariel Lambrecht and Renato
Freitas, the co-founders of 99 – a ride-share company acquired by China’s Didi
for $1 billion earlier this year. Eduardo Musa, former CEO of Brazilian bike
manufacturer Caloi, is also a founder.
Monashees and Grishin
Robotics led the funding round.
“As
local residents, we’re acutely aware of the pain points caused by Brazil’s
inefficient public transit, and we built Yellow specifically to address them,” Musa
says.
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“Our
goal is to improve circulation of urban traffic and curb harmful greenhouse gas
emissions by providing a fun, cost-effective mode of transportation that
integrates with other public transit systems to optimize daily routes in big
cities.”
Yellow will
use the capital to grow its team, develop its mobile app and bring the first
20,000 bicycles to São Paulo this summer. The company aims to have 100,000
bikes in that city before expanding throughout Brazil.
The
company says its dockless system provides more flexibility since users can access
and drop off bikes anywhere using a mobile app. In the future, Yellow plans to
add e-scooters and e-bikes to its platform.
“Yellow’s
team has a proven track-record of success in launching urban mobility solutions
in this market, a well-established supply partnership and strong relationships
with local regulators,” says Carlo Dapuzzo, partner at Monashees.
“This
combination of factors puts the company in a good position to solve Brazil’s
urban transportation problem.”