Member Article

P2P bike sharing marketplace launches £100k crowdfund to go national

A peer-to-peer bike sharing startup founded by Oxford University alumni is hoping to take its platform national after launching a £100k crowdfund on Seedrs.

Oxford-based Cycle.land is looking to raise the investment cash after launching in Oxford in April this year, and has ambitions to take the sevice to five more UK cities including Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh and London.

Founded by former Oxford student Agne Milukaite, the startup allows people to borrow bikes from local cyclists and vendors through its app with charges starting at £1 per day.

Once booked, users can then access their chosen bike via regular or combination locks, as well as keyless shareable smartphone code Loke Locks.

The app already boasts 1,000 users despite only operating for six months, and has its sights set on ambitious scaling targets, with the aim of becoming a £35m company by 2020.

Citing disruptive car and ride sharing companies as inspiration, founder Agne said that Cycle.land was attempting to bringing a similar sharing economy approach to bike mobility, and rebalance the innovative energy of the likes of Zipcar and Uber to more sustainable transport.

She said: “Shared bike mobility is the next great disruptor in urban transport. Amsterdam and Copenhagen today offer a glimpse at the future of urban mobility everywhere. Just like there, we believe the majority of short trips in urban areas will be made on bikes.

“We are delighted to be raising on Seedrs with Seedrs and offer our members the chance to own part of the company at seed stage and share in its future success.”

Jeff Lynn, co-founder of London-headquartered Seedrs, said that they were delighted that the startup had chosen the platform for its ‘capital raising needs’ and that the business was an example of ‘modern technology’ revolutionising an everyday activity.

“I’m thrilled to be working with them and wish them tremendous success,” he added.