Amsterdam e-bike sharing startups to get €1.2m subsidy from Brussels

E-bike sharing startups from Amsterdam including Cargoroo and Urbee, along with the Municipality, have received a substantial share of around a million subsidy from Brussels, reports Silicon Canals. Reportedly, in total Europe will donate a subsidy of €8.8m for the international project.

The lifecycle of project spans over three years, and it will take place in seven cities, across five countries in collaboration with various institutes, as per the latest report on fd.nl.

According to Jaron Borensztajn, co-founder of Cargoroo, this project aims to prove a point that the provision of electric shared bicycles and electric shared cars are commercially feasible.

Out of €8.8m, Amsterdam receives €1.2m for the installation of e-hubs in the city, where sharing bicycles can be picked up and taken away for promotional purposes. In addition to Amsterdam, the project also includes Nijmegen, Arnhem, Manchester, Leuven, the French Dreux and the South German Kempten.

Cargoroo received over €700,000 to deploy 150 electric bikes in seven cities. Additionally, Urbee places 260 electric bicycles divided between Amsterdam, Leuven and Nijmegen.

The project started around late 2017 based on the initiative of the two Amsterdam startups in sub-mobility. On top of that, two Belgian car companies and a number of institutes are involved in the project, including the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and TU Delft. The Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences is primarily observing at how consumers can change their mobility behaviour and advises TU Delft on the search for the best places to place the e-hubs.