Covid has already accelerated the electric bike boom in Australia and now the Clean Energy Finance Corporation is backing the micromobility option to decarbonise last mile delivery.
The green bank has backed Australian mobility start up Bolt Bikes, to be rebranded Zoomo, by leading the capital raise with a $7 million equity investment.
The company has completed a combined equity and debt capital raise of $16 million. Other equity investors include Hana Ventures, Maniv Mobility and Contrarian Ventures, with venture debt from OneVentures and Viola Credit.
Designed specifically for delivery services, Zoomo offers practical no-frills e-bikes through a rent, rent-to-buy or ownership model, with full maintenance and servicing out of an extensive network of service centres.
Recognising that demand for urban last-mile delivery is only expected to grow, the government-owned clean energy investor saw an opportunity to slash the carbon emissions caused by Australia’s burgeoning online shopping habit. According to the World Economic forum, demand for last mile delivery in cities is expected to grow by around 78 per cent by 2030.
“Transport in Australia produces about 100 million tonnes of emissions each year, or 19 per cent of national greenhouse gas emissions and cars and light commercial vehicles together represent more than half of those emissions,” CEFC chief executive officer Ian Learmonth said.
The global e-bike market is expected to balloon to $8.2 billion by 2027, with the Asia-Pacific market forecast to reach US$1.1 billion by 2027, led by countries such as Australia, India, and South Korea.
The pandemic has accelerated this growth, with the global market for e-bikes revised from US$5.8 billion in 2020 to US$8 billion.
Not only have consumers been forced to offer more goods and services online through lockdown periods, fuelling demand for ebike last mile delivery, but fears of using public transport has spurned a rise in active transport options in general as a way to get around.