Beam Mobility, Asia’s leading micromobility sharing services company, today announced that it has established the largest footprint for e-scooter sharing services in Asia-Pacific. Since its first official launch in March, Beam has established operations in Australia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
“Across all of Asia Pacific, we have seen an overwhelming desire for new modes of transportation. Cities have embraced micromobility as a positive addition to mobility options, and we have been able to launch in five countries in the last quarter alone (Q2) ” said Alan Jiang, CEO, Beam Mobility. “The infrastructure conditions, regulatory environments and diverse customer requirements mean that to be successful in APAC, you need to focus on localization plus have strong political and cultural understanding.”
Thousands of Beam e-scooters are taking tens of thousands of trips every week across APAC, and growth has been phenomenal – last quarter trips grew by a compounded 29% week on week throughout the entire quarter. In the second half of 2019, Beam will progressively roll out the Saturn, Beam’s next-generation e-scooter powered by Segway.
Beam is also working with companies in Singapore including FoodPanda, Domino’s Pizza and designer hotel Andaz Singapore on trials to understand how to utilize e-scooters in their day-to-day operations or for guest experiences.
Alan explained, “When we started Beam we knew we wanted to approach micromobility in Asia with a unique approach – we would focus on collaboration with cities and communities, operational efficiency, and ultimately building a long term sustainable business. A big part of that is understanding and implementing diverse sets of local needs in each country.”
Innovating for Local Needs
Beam focused on the different needs of each country where it was planning to launch e-scooter sharing services. This included adapting for specific urban conditions; creating innovative app features to better suit local needs; and a diligent effort to establish long-term, deeply collaborative relationships with local authorities.
A key focus of our innovation efforts is how to ensure that e-scooters properly interact with communities. This has resulted in Beam pioneering a different kind of rider incentive. In specific Beam cities, riders will be rewarded by parking properly in high traffic areas. If a Beam is parked appropriately and used by another rider in under 2 hours the original rider will get their Beam unlock fee back in the form of credits. This encourages proper parking in high volume areas and incentives the user to park the e-scooter efficiently.
“We are developing new features and new technology that enhance the sharing possibilities of our Beams,” said Deb Gangopadhyay, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder, Beam Mobility. “We want to make it as easy as possible for our riders to find, ride and park a Beam in a way that enhances transportation options and helps cities flow.”
Additionally, a safe Beam ride means that we work to ensure every person using a Beam considers the environment, operates their vehicle under control and utilizes shared space within the rules. Beam has invented unique app features to achieve this, such as creating an advanced geofence capability which allows for the e-scooters to be speed controlled or stopped in dangerous or restricted rider zones.
Deep Collaboration for Success
Beam’s approach to cities is centred around establishing long-term partnerships with local authorities, starting with first understanding existing legislation, and working with authorities on the most appropriate way to manage e-scooter sharing services in their jurisdiction.
Beam also ensures that its services and operations are fully compliant with relevant regulations, and through long-term engagement and discussion with stakeholders, how to address the concerns and issues that impact both riders and non-riders.
“All around the globe, cities are continuing to evolve thinking about how to address the growing popularity of micromobility services. Our approach at Beam is to collaborate with cities to ensure that e-scooter sharing services are rolled out in sustainable and safe ways, that offer the greatest benefit to local communities,” said Alan Jiang, CEO, Beam Mobility. “Our laser focus on localisation will continue to drive our operations and product strategies as we scale and expand rapidly across the Asia Pacific region.”
About Beam
Founded with a passion for new mobility, Beam is changing the way cities flow and optimising the movement of people, goods and services for the betterment of cities and the way of life for everyone.
Beam is focused on improving the accessibility of cities via better first-and-last mile connectivity and providing short-distance transport solutions, starting with an escooter sharing platform that is now serving riders in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea.
Learn more @ www.ridebeam.com.
Author: Gary Mortimer
Founder of the sUAS News Group, the news resource for small drones, I am intrigued by the prospect of Micro Mobility. It has the potential to have a really positive impact on the world. I do feel a little old in this space though!
