Portfolio news

● The company also announces a market-first, comprehensive insurance coverage for all riders
● Launching custom-designed e-bike by end of year
● Launching additional select cities in Germany, UK and the Netherlands
 
Dott ( www.ridedott.com ), the European micro-mobility company, announces today a commitment for a €30 million Series A funding round. The investment, which will close imminently, is co-led by existing investors theEQT Ventures fund (“EQT Ventures”), a leading European multistage VC fund with commitments of just over €566 million, and Naspers , a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world, through its Naspers Ventures division. Other investors include existing investors Axel Springer Digital Ventures , Felix Capital, FJ Labs, U-Start Club and angel investors.
 
The €30m investment will be used to:
1. Accelerate the go-to-market for Dott’s custom-designed new products:
a. E-bike : the design is complete, and pre-production is in progress. Dott’s e-bike will be
launched within months and is produced in Europe and China and assembled in France.
b. E-scooter generations 2 and 3 : Gen 2 will be available by the end of the year and
includes a swappable battery. Gen 3 is currently in design and will be available in 2020
with more UX features and operations excellence. Dott’s objective is to continue to
increase its e-scooters lifetime (from six months today to one year in September),
providing ultimate UX and reducing operational costs.
 
2. Continue investing in the best service available (superior value with comprehensive insurance
coverage at the same price), in-house operations (best fleet management tools), teams
(mechanics, patrollers, ...) and best-in-class warehouses and repair workshops.
 
3. Launch in additional cities : Dott will launch in select cities in Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands in the coming months. Still, with the company’s “local with locals” approach, responsible operations and hardware specifically built for the shared usage. Dott is currently operating in Brussels, Paris and Lyon, with a first pilot in Milan as well. The new round of investment confirms the strategy initiated by Dott’s French co-founders Maxim Romain and Henri Moissinac: along with a strong collaboration with municipalities and local mobility ecosystems, design vehicles specifically for sharing, operate the business in a responsible way (fully integrated operations - no juicers, recharge only in a safe environment) and in a sustainable manner (repair all scooters). This leads to very promising usage . For instance, in Paris, the average distance per trip is 3.2 km (double distance vs. Lime at 1.6km) and the average trips per scooter per day is at 4 during weekdays and up to 6.5 during weekend days. This shows people love our Dott scooters and use them as a real means of transportation.
 
Safety is also a key part of this strategy. Along with offering a more stable scooter with bigger wheels (10 inches), lower center of gravity and double-brake system, Dott is the first company to offer comprehensive insurance coverage to its users in France and Belgium (coming soon in Italy) in partnership with Zego (Insurtech leader) and La Parisienne Assurances . This insurance covers both personal injury and third-party liability . The insurance is automatically integrated in the sign-up process for new riders and before the next trips for the existing riders, with no extra cost.
 
“We’ve shown in the first months that we can offer a true alternative in European cities, taking the lead both in terms of sustainability and best user experience,” said Maxim Romain, CEO, and co-founder, Dott . “We think we have a winning combination now, starting with our great results in Paris, along with scooters designed for shared mobility and fully integrated operations from start. Our aim is now to accelerate, take the full lead in cities where we operate, expand to new countries and launch our own Dott e-bike as well as the two next generations of e-scooters in the coming months.”
 
“Over the last six months, Dott’s world-class team has proved they can develop and deliver the best product in the market, iterate quickly, and execute on their ‘locals with locals’ approach to ensure each roll-out meets the needs of the city it’s in. All while maintaining their focus on safety and ensuring that micro-mobility is environmentally friendly,” said Lars Jörnow, partner and investment advisor at EQT Ventures. “EQT Ventures looks forward to supporting the team as Dott expands into new countries and
launches new offerings.”
 
“The dense nature of cities in Europe is ideal for e-scooter and e-bike sharing for short commutes – most trips are much more efficiently covered than with a car,” said Martin Tschopp, COO, Naspers Ventures. Dott has experienced good traction in its first few months of operation and is leading with a local, sustainable and safety-first mindset, which is appealing to Naspers.”
 
About Dott
Dott is a micro-mobility European start-up founded by Maxim Romain and Henri Moissinac, gathering the most experienced team in mobility and tech in Europe. Dott ’s mission is to beautifully design micro-mobility for safety, comfort, and durability, to make green travel an easy choice for everyone in European cities. Dott has created a list of ten commitments the company will adhere to in order to have a responsible and collaborative approach with cities. Dott ’s eScooters have been carefully deployed in Brussels, Paris, Lyon, and Milan between January and June 2019. Dott has raised an initial investment of €20 million in December 2018, co-led by EQT Ventures and Naspers with participation from other investors and business angels in Europe. Dott has a 80-people staff, with 2 HQs: technical & admin HQ in Amsterdam, operations HQ in Paris.
 
About EQT Ventures
EQT Ventures is a multi-stage VC fund with commitments of just over €566 million. The fund is based in Luxembourg and has investment advisors stationed in Stockholm, Amsterdam, London, San Francisco, and Berlin. Fuelled by some of Europe’s most experienced company builders and scalers, EQT Ventures helps the next generation of entrepreneurs with capital and hands-on support. EQT Ventures is part of EQT, a leading investment firm with more than €61 billion in raised capital across 29 funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia, and the US with total sales of more than EUR 21 billion and approximately 127,000 employees.
 
About Naspers
Naspers is a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Operating and investing in countries and markets across the world with long-term growth potential, Naspers builds leading companies that empower people and enrich communities. The group operates and partners a number of leading internet businesses across Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia in sectors including online classifieds, payments and fintech, food delivery, travel, education, health, and social and internet platforms.
 
Every day, millions of people use the products and services of companies that Naspers has invested in, acquired or built, including Avito, Brainly, BYJU’S, Codecademy, eMAG, Honor, ibibo, iFood, letgo, Media24, Movile, OLX, PayU, SimilarWeb, Swiggy, Takealot, and Udemy. Similarly, hundreds of millions of people have made the platforms of its associates a part of their daily lives: Tencent (www.tencent.com; SEHK 00700), Mail.ru (www.corp.mail.ru; LSE: MAIL), MakeMyTrip Limited (www.makemytrip.com; NASDAQ:MMYT) and DeliveryHero (www.deliveryhero.com; Xetra: DHER)
 
Today, Naspers companies and associates help improve the lives of around a fifth of the world’s population. Naspers actively searches for new opportunities to partner exceptional entrepreneurs who are using technology to address big societal needs. Naspers has a primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (NPN.SJ) and a secondary listing on the A2X Exchange (NPN.AJ) in South Africa, and has an ADR listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: NPSN).
 
For more information, please visit www.naspers.com .