MIT spinout Superpedestrian has collected $125m in a series C round that attracted Sony Innovation Fund and Citi Impact Fund.
Superpedestrian, a US-based shared e-scooter provider spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has picked up $125m in series C financing, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
The round featured Citi Impact Fund and Sony Innovation Fund, respective vehicles for financial services firm Citi and consumer electronics producer Sony, as well as investment bank Jefferies, investment firm Antara Capital, asset manager FM Capital and venture capital firms Spark Capital and General Catalyst.
The round consisted of both equity and debt financing, but Superpedestrian has not offered details on individual sums nor which investors contributed to either transaction.
Founded in 2013, Superpedestrian offers both standing and seated e-scooters. It focuses on offering inclusive design and operates an entirely carbon neutral business.
The series C funding will allow Superpedestrian to deploy its safety system, Pedestrian Defense, at scale – beginning with 25 cities across the US and the UK, before a wider expansion across Europe. The technology detects unsafe riding behaviour in real-time, such as using pavements or going the wrong way down a street.
The cash will also enable the spinout to double down on its research and development of its software, which has garnered interest from third parties such as small delivery vehicle fleets. Paul White, senior director of public affairs at Superpedestrian, ascribed the large investor interest in the series C round to this aspect.
White explained: “The capability is super interesting, not just for the scooter business, which is really about working with cities, but the capability is relevant to any small vehicle that operates in a dense, pedestrian-rich environment where having that sort of granular level of human scale controls means you are not marring the pedestrian experience.
“I think that is another reason why we saw a lot of participation and interest in this round, not just because what the technology does for our core scooter business, but its relevance to any small electric fleet that is going to grapple with the same challenges or not blocking the bike lane or intruding on valuable pedestrian space.”
Superpedestrian previously collected $60m in a series B round featuring Citi Impact Fund, OurCrowd and Winthrop Square Capital in late 2020. It has now raised some $264m altogether and competes in a space that also includes Lime, which has raised money from Stanford University-linked Stanford-StartX Fund.
– Image courtesy of Superpedestrian
