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Quick Guide To Lime And Lime Scooters

December 11, 2018/0 Comments/in Blog, Rider & Customer Promos, Riders & Customers/by Tracy Ballard

LimeBike made waves with its launch in 2017 as one of the very first bikeshare ventures in the United States. Building on the model of rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft, they offer simpler and more affordable modes of in-city transportation. While their name seems to be everywhere (the company shortened it to Lime in 2018), not many people actually know the specifics of the company or the opportunities it offers. If you fall into this category, here’s everything you need to know about Lime and their services.

What Is Lime (And LimeBikes and Lime Scooters)?

LimeBikes are simply grab-and-go style bike rentals that you use for a small fee. With a dockless system, riders can locate available bikes in their area, unlock them for their journey, and then simply leave them at their destination. This process is convenient as well as affordable. However, Lime’s bikes are being phased out in favor of scooters, which have become far more popular.

For now, there are two styles of LimeBikes available: Smart Bikes and E-Assist.

Smart Bikes are traditional, pedal-powered bikes that are integrated into the company’s smart app system. Lime offers three variations of Smart Bikes: one-speed, three-speed (shown below), and eight-speed.

Electric Assist (or Lime-E) bikes, on the other hand, offer a boost of electric power. While you’ll still pedal, the battery increases your power and makes it easier to bike around the city. In fact, the Lime-E bikes can reach speeds of up to 14.8 mph.

If you want to try an actual Limebike, you should do it soon, as the company is phasing out bikes, in favor of scooters.

What Are Lime Scooters?

Known as the Lime-S (shown below), Lime Bike scooters are designed to make it even easier to get around a city with fast travel speeds and affordable costs. Riders can rent the scooters in the same manner as LimeBikes, but since they’re electric, there’s no manual labor involved.

Where Is Lime Available?

Lime is rapidly increasing their service areas. Currently, their main focus is on cities and college campuses. The states they’re operating in include:

Arizona
California
Colorado
Florida
Illinois
Indiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
Missouri
New York
Nevada
New Jersey
North Carolina
Ohio
Texas
Washington
Washington D.C.

Their biggest operating area is California, and some states only offer the service in one or two major cities. Also, Lime-S isn’t available in all of the cities that currently offer LimeBike. However, the company is working to expand their service area quickly.

How Much Do LimeBike Rentals Cost?

LimeBike rentals are incredibly affordable. There’s a standard rate for each bike and scooter rental, but exact costs for each electric model vary by city. Here’s a breakdown of their pricing model:

Smart Bikes: Manual LimeBikes cost $1 for every 30 minutes of use. If you’re a student, professor, or staff member of a college or university, you only have to pay 50 cents for each half hour. To qualify for this discount, you need to set up your Lime rider account with a valid .edu email address.
Electric Assist Bikes: Lime’s electric assist bikes charge a $1 base cost with an additional fee for each minute of usage. The per-minute charge varies by location, but on average, it ends up at around 15 cents.
Lime-S: For Lime’s electric scooters, you’ll experience a pricing formula similar to the electric LimeBikes. There’s an initial fee of $1 to unlock the scooter, and then you’ll be charged a location-specific rate for every minute of use.

The company offers a special pricing program for frequent riders. LimePrme is a monthly pay tier that allows you to pay $29.95 for around $100 of LimeBike credits. College and university faculty can purchase a LimePrime membership for $14.95. However, this service is only available for traditional, pedal LimeBikes and not their electric counterparts or scooters.

You can use our LimeBike promo code – R2WAI74 – to get $3 in ride credits when you sign up. Click the button below to download the Limebike app and get started with your free Limebike rides.

Join LimeBike

How to Rent a LimeBike

Renting a LimeBike or Lime-S scooter is even easier than requesting an Uber or Lyft. You’ll need to first download the Lime app from the iTunes store or Google Play. After you open the app, it’ll request that you sign up for the service, and then you’ll be able to enter your payment information.

Limebike Smart Bike Rental - Payment Entry

To rent a LimeBike or scooter, you’ll need to find a bike on the map. Your current position is designated with a little blue dot while rentals in the area are identifiable by the green Lime logo.

Choose a nearby option and walk to it. Once you’ve arrived, you will scan the QR code on the back of the LimeBike seat or on the scooter’s handlebar. This step unlocks the vehicle and you can begin your journey. Here’s a short video that shows how to rent a LimeBike scooter.

The app will track your time, distance, location, and cost in real-time, so you’ll always know what your total expense is. When you’ve reached your destination, you simply park the bike or scooter in a safe location. For bikes, you’ll move the lock lever on the back tire to reset it. For scooters, you’ll click “Lock” on the app screen. You’ll see your total charges and trip summary on the app’s screen, so be sure to double-check that the cost is correct.

Everything You Need to Know About LimeBike Juicers

After launching their electric scooter service, the company needed assistance with recharging their equipment for the next day. This has created a new type of LimeBike job position, known as a “juicer.” Learn more about this side hustle and how you can benefit from it, below.

What Is a LimeBike Juicer?

LimeBike juicers drive around their service area to collect scooters for charging. They then take the scooters home and charge them overnight for a fee. For this particular LimeBike job, you’ll operate as an independent contractor, which means you have more freedom than a conventional position.

How Much Do Lime Bike Juicers Make?

Lime pays their juicers for each scooter they charge. This fee varies by area, but you’ll know the total payment available when you click the scooter on your in-app map. On average, you can expect to earn around $5 per charge. Initially, the company will provide you with three chargers, but you can feasibly charge more than three machines per night. They only require the scooters to reach a 95 percent charge before considering the job completed.

The more well-charged machines will take one to two hours to charge, while those with less juice need around five to seven hours. If you pick up six Lime Bike scooters — three that are mostly charged and three with a nearly depleted charge, you could potentially earn $30 or more per night.

How to Become a LimeBike Juicer

To join the LimeBike juicer community, you simply need to sign up on their website. For this process, you’ll provide personal information, contact information, and your vehicle type. The company requires each juicer to have a vehicle available to them to transport the scooters, such as a car, SUV, truck, or minivan. After reviewing your application, a member of the Lime team will contact you over the phone or through email. This conversation provides all of the information you need to know about the charging process and what the company expects from you as a juicer.

Once approved, you’ll be able to turn on “Juicer” mode in your LimeBike app. After 8 p.m., you can begin collecting scooters in your area and start charging them. The app will provide you a general area to drop off each scooter in the morning. All Lime-S equipment must be charged and placed back into the community by 7 a.m. After you’ve dropped off the scooter, you’ll click “Served” on the app and instantly see how much you’ve made.

The Future of LimeBikes and Lime-S Electric Scooters

LimeBikes and scooters make in-city travel convenient and affordable, but they also offer a money-making opportunity for locals. As the company expands, they’ll need more and more LimeBike juicers to keep up with demand. If you’re looking for a quick way to complement your income, scooter rental services, like Lime and Bird, provide a fantastic opportunity to earn money with minimal effort. Have you used LimeBike or Lime-S yet? We want to know how it went!

If Limebike isn’t in your area yet, you can request it here.

Lyft Hits 1 Billion Rides

September 18, 2018/in Blog/by Don Pritchett

Lyft Gives 1 Billionth Ride

As the summer draws to a close, Lyft just announced that it has given its 1 billionth ride. Rough back of the envelope calculations suggest they could top 500 million rides this year alone.

Lyft has been riding the wave recently, achieving 35% market share, while almost doubling its share of the business rideshare market. They’ve been able to achieve this while becoming the only carbon-free rideshare company.

Topping off the good news, Lyft’s most recent funding round valued the company at $15.1 billion, double its value from a year ago. They’re also closer to profitability than arch rival Uber.

To capitalize on this growth, Lyft recently announced infrastructure investments in new driver hubs, along with key new hires to oversee design and implementation.

The company also announced a new rental partnership with Avis that will make many of their 600,000 vehicles available through the Lyft Express Drive program. This marks a massive expansion of the program, currently available in about 30 cities.

Lyft Is Giving Out Free Gas To Celebrate

To celebrate, Lyft will give a little something back to 3500 drivers – a free tank of gas.

Every single day, millions of people connect in Lyft rides across the country helping to demonstrate that people from all backgrounds, neighborhoods, and walks of life can come together — even if just for a short trip. We are incredibly motivated knowing that each individual ride can make a difference in people’s lives, and appreciate the community of drivers and passengers who made this possible.

– John Zimmer, Co-founder and President

Along with the announcement came some pretty interesting factoids about those first billion rides.

Almost half (47%) of all Lyft rides are given in winter.
One Lyft driver has given over 31,000 rides.
One Lyft rider has taken over 9,000 rides.
15% of all Lyft rides occur between 11PM and 2AM
One Lyft rider took 2500 rides…just during happy hour!

The announcement also confirmed that Lyft is going full throttle when it comes to Lyft bikes, Lyft scooters, and public transit integration. “Our new multi-modal products will ensure that bikes, scooters, and public transit play a large role in the future of transportation.”

Lyft has already begun pilot programs integrating the Lyft rider app with public transportation systems in Santa Monica and Marin County, CA. The company also recently purchased Motivate, the largest bikeshare company in the United States.

Expect to see more Lyft partnerships with municipal transportation providers in 2019. And get ready for Lyft branded scooters and bikes, because they’re definitely on the way.

The Future Is Shared

Lyft also seems to be making progress in its quest to increase shared rides. Out of the first billion rides, over 233 million were shared rides. And in cities where shared rides are available, they now account for 30% of all rides.

Eventually, the company hopes that about half the rides it gives will be shared rides, which will further the company goals of reducing traffic congestion and pollution.

Jump Bikes App – Guide To The Electric Bike Service

August 14, 2018/in Blog, Riders & Customers/by Tracy Ballard

Jump Bikes: The Guide to the Electric Bike Share Service

A Brooklyn-based startup founded in 2010, Jump Bikes was the first dockless company to roll out e-bikes, offering advantages to cities and citizens alike. Uber bought Jump in 2018 for about $200 million as part of their dedication to greener initiatives. Besides being convenient and affordable for riders, this rideshare opportunity is more accessible and friendlier for cities. Although this bikeshare company has put a new spin on the idea of ridesharing, it is still relatively unknown, so here’s a comprehensive guide to the bike sharing program.

What Are Jump Bikes?

Jump Bikes is a bikeshare company that gives users an easy way to rent a bike for anything from tourism to commuting. Available on a grab-and-go basis, this bike rental program is completely dockless; simply locate a bike in your area, unlock it, and use it for a small fee. Afterward, leave the bike at the end of your journey for the next person who needs it.

The convenient process costs only $2 for 30 minutes, so renting the bike doesn’t mean taking a financial hit. Any time over the initial 30 minutes is charged at a prorated fee of 7 cents per minute. This superior rideshare option also helps you avoid the hassle and expense of bike ownership, including the price of purchasing the bike, maintenance fees, and the problem of storage.

After Uber purchased Jump Bikes, the company integrated Jump Bikes into its app with Uber Bike. This means you’re able to rent your Jump Bike directly through the Uber app. While it is not yet available for all riders, Uber plans to roll the functionality out to all its users over time, making the bike rental process smoother and easier than ever. You can still complete your bike rental directly in the Jump app if Uber Bike is not available in your area.

Meet the Bike

Jump Bikes features innovative bikes that sport an eye-catching style, optimal comfort, and a smooth ride. With perfected hardware and software, Jump bikes include:

An e-assist motor. The 250W motor adds power to your ride so you can tackle challenging terrain with ease. Boosting you up to 20 mph when you pedal, the electrified ride will easily get you where you need to go faster.
Powerful brakes. These brakes will keep your bike in check on treacherous hills.
A skirt guard. The back wheel of the bike is encased in a convenient skirt guard, which protects your clothes from getting caught in the wheel and minimizes the risk of dirtying your shoes and clothes.
Night lights. With a headlight and a tail light, this bike’s safety-first design means you won’t have to worry about riding at night.

Where Are Jump Bikes Available?

With an expanding base, Jump Bikes are available in cities across the country. Currently, you’ll be able to take advantage of Jump Bikes’ rideshare program in the following cities:

Austin, Texas
Chicago, Illinois
Washington, D.C.
Sacramento, California
Santa Cruz, California
San Francisco, California
Providence, Rhode Island
New York City, NY

How to Rent a Jump Bike

Now that you’ve seen exactly how convenient and affordable Jump Bikes can be, here’s how to rent a Jump Bike for your next adventure.

Download the app. Getting this app means you’ll have access to everything Jump Bike, including locations of bikes, payment options, and helpful GPS routes to get you where you need to go. Simply download the app on your phone and plug in your information.

Find a bike. After installing the Jump Bike app, you’ll have access to a map that shows you exactly where bikes are in real time and gives you directions to the nearest available ones.

Reserve Your Bike. Tap a bike to select it. This will let you know the percentage charge of each bike. This way, you can choose one that won’t run out of charge in the middle of your ride. On a full charge, the bike will travel 30 to 40 miles. When ready, click reserve.

Unlock your rental. Once you locate the bike and walk to it, the app will give you a four-digit pin that you can use on the electronic lock, releasing the bike. Then, you can begin your ride.

Pedal away. The e-assist motor feature of the Jump Bike gives you added power on your daily commute or sightseeing trip. If you want to stop for any reason along the way but don’t want to give up your rental, press HOLD and lock the bike to the nearest street sign or bike rack. When you return, enter the four-digit pin and get straight back to pedaling.

Lock up. Because Jump Bikes are completely dockless, you’ll be able to leave the bike at your destination. Just make sure you use the bike’s convenient lock to secure it within the system area at a hub or bike rack for the next person who comes along. You will be charged $25 for leaving the bike out of the system area.

Check your stats. The app also includes a user profile section that gives you access to trip statistics. These may include dollars saved, miles traveled, and calories burned along with the CO2 reduced thanks to your decision to bike. These statistics and your trip map can be shared with friends on the app as well as exported to other social media.

Rent Jump Bikes From The Uber App

To rent a Jump Bikes from within the Uber rider app, simply click the main menu button in the upper left hand corner of the app. Then, select “Bike” and follow the instructions to reserve a bike.

Social Bicycles

Another option Jump Bikes offers is Social Bicycles, a service that features 15,000 non-electric bikes and is available in more than 40 markets. A popular choice, Social Bicycles boasts upward of 5 million trips taken.

With smart-bike technology, these bikes are dockless and feature integrated and enclosed components, similar to the construction of the electric jump bikes. The bikes also sport grip shifters with three different speeds as well as real-time GPS, communication, and geo-tag technologies, which allow you to easily locate the nearest bike when you need a ride. You can even place a reservation on a bike if you know you’ll need to catch a ride at a specific time.

The fees for Social Bicycles are reasonable and vary depending on where you live. You can either elect to pay as you go with a prorated pricing model that charges per hour plus an activation fee or subscribe to a monthly or yearly membership. With a membership, you’ll get a certain amount of time free every day (which is ideal for commuters). Unlike other programs that use escalating overage charges, any overage time is charged at a flat per-hour rate.

Make the Most of Jump Bikes

The next time you have to get across town but don’t want to pay an arm and a leg, take advantage of the convenient and affordable jump bikes in your city. Whether you’re a tourist exploring the area or a local commuter trying to avoid the traffic, Jump Bikes gives you the opportunity to forego car travel without subjecting yourself to any discomfort. Simply download the app today to experience this rideshare option.

Quickstart Guide To Bird Scooters: How To Rent And Charge

July 9, 2018/in Blog, Rider & Customer Promos, Riders & Customers/by Don Pritchett

Your Thorough Guide to Bird Scooter Rentals

The bikeshare industry is evolving, and electric scooters are an obvious next step in that evolution. There are a few different scooter rental companies that have entered the market in recent months, and one of the most successful is Bird. The company offers opportunities for riders as well as individuals who want to boost their income. Take a closer look at the company, what they offer, and how you can be a part of it, below.

Everything You Need to Know About Bird Scooter Rentals

Bird scooters have grown quickly in popularity, but electric scooter rentals are a very new service. As a result, most people don’t know much about Bird or how their rental services work. Here’s everything you need to know about becoming a Bird scooter rider:

What Are Bird Scooters?

Founded in 2017, Bird specializes in electronic scooter rentals only. Through Bird’s app, riders can locate available scooters in their area and rent them for easy traveling. The equipment is dockless, so you’re able to ride right up to where you’re going and leave the scooter at your destination, instead of finding a charger dock.

How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Bird Scooter?

Bird offers a very straightforward pricing arrangement. There’s an initial $1 fee for each electric scooter rental, and then you’ll pay 15 cents for every minute you use the scooter. Considering the speed and convenience of Bird’s scooter rentals, the combination of base fare and per minute fee results in a highly affordable mode of transportation for short trips.

What Are the Benefits of Bird Scooters?

Electric scooters are a fantastic way to get through your city. Choosing to travel by Bird electric scooter offers many benefits, including:

Convenience: The Bird scooter app makes it incredibly easy to find scooters near you, and the unlocking process is quick and painless.
Speed: Bird scooters are designed to reach speeds of up to 15 mph, which means you can get where you’re going quickly.
Affordability: Bird scooter rentals are also inexpensive. Considering their speed and availability, riders are able to reach the destinations quickly, which keeps their overall costs low.
Eco-Friendliness: The scooter rentals are also an eco-friendly transportation option. They run on electricity, which is associated with lower carbon emissions than gas or diesel. The equipment is also designed to operate efficiently, so no energy is wasted.

With so many benefits, foot transportation could become a thing of your past.

Where Are Bird Electric Scooters Available?

The electric scooter rental scene is fairly new, so it’s no surprise that Bird is only available in a few locations. However, the success of their current operation areas is leading the company to expand rapidly. As of today, Bird electric scooters are available in the following cities:

Scottsdale
Tempe
Austin
Dallas
San Antonio
Oakland
San Diego
San Jose
Los Angeles
Atlanta
Indianapolis
Baltimore
Charlotte
Memphis
Salt Lake City
Arlington
Washington D.C.
Milwaukee

As you can see, the majority of their operational centers are in large metropolitan areas. In the near future, you can expect to find Bird in major cities all over the country. Smaller cities and college towns are likely to be in the second round of expansions after Bird enters each state.

How to Rent a Bird Electric Scooter

Renting a Bird scooter is fairly easy. First, you need to download the Bird app, which is available on the iTunes store and Google Play. After you open the app, it’ll prompt you to create an account. You’ll also need to enter your payment information before accessing the service. You’ll find this option at the top of the main menu. To get started with a free ride on Bird (up to $5), click the button below.

Join Bird

On the main page of the app, you’ll see a map that indicates your position in relation to nearby scooters, or “Birds,” as the company calls them. You’ll also be able to view the current battery level of each scooter before you choose one.

After you’ve located a scooter nearby, you tap the symbol on the screen to choose it. Then you’ll focus your phone camera on the QR code, which is located on the handlebar, to verify the scooter, before hitting “Unlock.” The first time you utilize a Bird scooter rental, the app will also require you to take a picture of your driver’s license.

Once your scooter is rented, it’s time to ride. On the left side of the handlebar, you’ll see the brake handle, and on the right side, a throttle button. To start the system, you’ll use foot power. Three strong pushes will wake up the scooter, and then the rest of the power is provided by the throttle button. Be sure to only operate the scooter in bike lanes and not on sidewalks.

After completing your journey, tap the “Lock” button in the Bird app. You can park the scooter with the kickstand and leave it near the entrance of your destination. It’s best to avoid blocking walkways and sidewalks, so look for a safe location that’s easy to access for other riders.

Everything You Need to Know About Being a Bird Charger

Since Bird’s electric scooters are dockless, they need to be charged regularly. To aid in this effort, the company employs contractors known as “chargers.” Chargers operate as independent contractors and are responsible for Bird scooter charging on a daily basis.

What Bird Chargers Do

Bird chargers utilize the app to locate scooters in their area, and then they collect them for charging. There isn’t a central docking station, so each charger takes the machines home with them to charge overnight. The scooters require a special charger that connects to a standard outlet, but the company will provide these to you once you join their team.

The company sorts scooters throughout a city by creating a “nest,” which is a specific location with expected high demand. After the equipment is charged, the chargers “release” the Birds anywhere in their nest area.

How Much Do Bird Chargers Make?

Bird pays their chargers based on the number of scooters they charge. Each scooter is categorized as either green, yellow, or red, and their charging price varies by category and location. On average, you can expect to make around $5 per fully charged Bird scooter. Once you locate a machine on your app, it’ll tell you how much you’ll make for charging the scooter.

One of the top benefits of working for Bird is their same-day payouts. You’ll be paid the same day for all charged scooters that were freed back to their nest by 7 a.m. After 7 a.m., releases are paid the following business day. Such a quick turnaround only adds to the appeal of the company. Bird does limit each charger to 20 scooters per night.

Bird Charger Requirements

To become a Bird charger, the company requires you to apply. The process isn’t as complicated or thorough as rideshare or delivery companies, but you do need to meet some basic requirements. All Bird chargers must meet the following criteria:

Minimum age of 18 years old
You need to have a vehicle
Live in or near an operation center
Charge a minimum of three Birds at a time

Since the company pays out on a daily basis, they require that each charger tackle three machines at once. This choice reduces the company’s overall costs as banks charge them for each transaction.

How to Become a Bird Charger

To apply for this Bird scooter job, you need to visit their charger sign up page. You can also access it through their app through the main menu under “Become a Charger.” Next, you’ll enter your personal and tax information along with your direct deposit information.

After you’ve submitted your application, you’ll receive a call from the Bird team for a short interview. At this time, they’ll explain the process involved in more detail.

Upon approval, you’ll gain access to charger features in your Bird app. This step allows you to find and “capture” Birds in your area. Once you find them, you’ll scan the QR code in the same manner as you would rent them, and then you’ll load them into your vehicle and take them home for the night. The next morning, you’ll need to drop off the Bird scooters in their nest area (designated by the app) between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Bird Scooters: The Future of Bikeshare

Bikeshare options ruled 2017, and scootershare is sure to take over 2018. At the front of the electric scooter rental pack is Bird, but it’s not the only player in the game. Have you used a scooter rental service yet? If so, which one?

Beyond Lyft And Uber: The Top 10 Ridesharing Startups of 2018

June 15, 2018/in Blog/by Colleen Harris

The 10 Most Exciting Rideshare Startups of 2018

Despite their ups and downs, Uber and Lyft have captured the lion’s share of the ridesharing market in the United States. However, dozens of other rideshare (and bikeshare) firms have launched in the last year, devising new strategies to appeal to niche riders. From bicycles to automobiles to scooters, these 10 companies are challenging consumers to get mobile in a completely new and modern way.

While Lyft is still only available in the U.S. and a couple of cities in Canada, Uber has already tussled with a few of these companies overseas. The results, so far, have not been great for Uber.

1. Taxify

Estonia seems like an unlikely place for one of the world’s most successful rideshare companies, but founder Martin Villig had plenty of experience in the world of startups. An early employee of Skype, Villig had already founded three startups and startup associations before he devised Taxify. His younger brother Markus and Oliver Leisalu, a web developer, joined him in launching Taxify in 2013. Unlike Uber, Taxify originally focused on connecting commuters to licensed cab drivers. The company eventually moved into hiring individual private drivers as well. Taxify quickly spread throughout Europe and Africa, having little trouble finding investors. By 2018, they had collected over $170 million in funding and had reached unicorn status. They are now challenging Uber in Europe and Africa

Photo by Janitors

2. Didi Chuxing

Before they starterd Didi in 2012, founders Bo Zhang and Cheng Wei worked at Baidu and Alibaba. Using their experience in the tech industry, they debuted the cab-hailing service in Beijing. The pair’s business model enticed China’s Tencent conglomerate to invest in the nascent company to the tune of $13 million. Despite an attempt by Uber to horn in on the Chinese ridesharing market, Didi continued to attract massive investment. The company gobbled up competitor Huaidi Dache in 2015 and acquired Uber’s China assets in 2016. Today, Didi regularly makes investments in other companies and has become China’s most valuable startup, with an estimated value of $56 billion. Now, they’re challenging Uber in Mexico. Also, they have great commercials.

3. Getaround

Some consumers prefer to take the wheel themselves, and Getaround was designed to appeal to these customers. The startup was born at Silicon Valley’s Singularity University business incubator in 2009. The company’s three co-founders wanted to help users easily find rental cars. The Getaround app connects car owners with people who need to rent a vehicle. The startup has raised more than $100 million from firms like Menlo Ventures and Toyota. In addition to Californian cities, Getaround is now available in more than 10 cities, including Boston, Washington D.C. and Chicago.

4. Ola

In 2010, it became apparent to a pair of Mumbai engineering students that the city’s notoriously congested streets were the perfect market for an online ridesharing service. However, Ola didn’t really take off until 2013 when the founders added a mobile app and expanded into Delhi and Bangalore. In 2014, Softbank and Sequoia invested a combined $250 million into the company. By 2016, Ola had expanded to over 100 cities in India. Today, Ola operates in both India and Australia and is valued at close to $4 billion.

5. Lime Bike

While other startups were busy wrapping up the ridesharing market, the founders of Lime Bike saw the potential in bicycles. After a Series A funding round of $12 million, Lime Bike introduced their distinctive dockless green bikes in North Carolina in June 2017. The company has grown like wildfire, spreading through California, Arizona, Florida, Texas and even Hawaii. With the help of Rainbow Technologies and venture capital firm Fifth Wall, Lime completed a $70 million Series B round in February 2018. In May, they added electric scooters to their fleet.

6. Grab

Tan Hooi Ling and Anthony Tan were students at Harvard Business School when Uber began its meteoric rise. They realized they could apply a similar business model in Southeast Asia. The startup began in Singapore as a taxi-hailing service, but quickly expanded into individual and group rides in private cars and shuttles. Investors like SoftBank and Tiger Global Management pumped millions of dollars into the company, helping it reach a $1 billion valuation in only two years. In 2018, Grab received a large influx of cash from Hyundai, allowing it add bicycle rentals and food delivery to its services.

7. Bird

A relatively new arrival to the ridesharing scene, Bird is the brainchild of Travis VanderZanden, the former COO of Lyft. VanderZanden left another job as a Vice President of Uber to launch his electric scooter startup in 2017. The company’s dockless electric scooters first popped up in Santa Monica in fall 2017. In just a few months, the startup had expanded into San Francisco, San Diego, Austin and Dallas. Bird has picked up plenty of investors in less than a year. The company has raised over $260 million from firms like Sequoia and Index Ventures. In May, the company’s rapid rise paid off when it was valued at $1 billion. Just a month later, they’re now valued at $2 billion.

8. Blablacar

After a team of entrepreneurs spotted a gap in the French market, they launched Blablacar to help commuters carpool around the country. Unlike other ridesharing apps, Blablacar was intended to match riders based on their level of chattiness. Blablacar received its first substantial investment from Accel in 2012. Since then, the company has spread throughout Europe, India, Turkey, Mexico and Brazil. The company has garnered around $330 million since its launch and recently rolled out its own car insurance plan, Blablasure.

9. Turo

The carsharing startup was originally intended to be a sort of Airbnb for cars, connecting car owners with prospective renters. Shelby Thomas Clark first started Turo in 2009 when he was a student at Harvard. Over the years, the company expanded into other American and Canadian cities. Turo grew further in 2017 when they acquired Daimler’s Croove car-sharing service. In 2018, Turo added luxury cars like Porsches and Bentleys to their stable of rentals. Just this week, they launched Turo Go, which allows instant rentals through it’s app.

10. Ofo

While working on a finance degree at Peking University, Wei Dei decided to use technology to connect bicycle owners with people needing a ride. Working with a group of like-minded classmates, Wei built the campus bike-sharing service into a country-wide startup, providing bikes to millions of Chinese cyclists. Ofo soon caught the attention of some of China’s biggest venture capital firms like ZhenFund and DST Global. The company achieved a $1 billion valuation in 2017 and now operates in over 15 countries, including the U.S., Australia and Russia.

From car rental services to individual bicycle rides, these ridesharing companies are changing the face of urban transport forever. By launching in unconventional markets and eschewing outdated business practices, these startups have been able to flourish in the face of stiff competition. As the ridesharing sector continues to grow worldwide, these companies are expanding across borders and finding new patrons. Look for many of them to start showing up in the Western hemisphere in 2018 and 2019.

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