Dott raises €70m as it prepares for Irish e-scooter launch

20 Apr 2021

Dott e-scooters in Dublin. Image: Conor McCabe Photography

With fresh funding, the Dutch micromobility player plans to expand into more countries and roll out a fleet of e-bikes.

E-scooter company Dott has raised €70m to fund expansion into new markets, including Ireland.

The Series B round was led by Belgian investment company Sofina and growth equity investor Estari. New and existing backers including EQT Ventures, Prosus Ventures, Felix Capital and Quadia also participated. The investment is a mix of equity and asset-backed debt financing.

Amsterdam-headquartered Dott was founded in 2018 and is now one of the big micromobility players in Europe. It has more than 30,000 e-scooters in five countries, currently operating sharing schemes in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Poland.

The company said the fresh investment will be used to enhance its service and to launch e-bikes in European cities starting from this summer. It is also planning expansions into new cities and new countries, including Spain and Ireland.

“We’ve shown in the first two years that we can offer a great service for users – good for the planet and good for European cities,” said Henri Moissinac, CEO and co-founder of Dott.

“Thanks to our new and existing investors, our aim is now to accelerate, serve more users and more cities, in the most reliable and affordable way possible”.

Dott revealed earlier this year that is it preparing to launch in Dublin and potentially other Irish cities once legislation allows.

This legislative change is expected soon, as the Government approved plans in February of this year to draft legislation that would regulate for e-scooters on Irish roads.

Dott recently wrote to Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, TD, to recommend that a number of mandatory safety measures be included in the regulations, such as helmet requirements and max speeds of 25kmph.

It also said it would carry out local consultations in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway about potential deployments.

But there are several other competitors also eyeing a share of the Irish market. A number of companies have already announced plans to launch e-scooter fleets as soon as legislation is passed, including Bolt, BleeperZipp Mobility, Free Now and Bird.

Sarah Harford was sub-editor of Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com