Singapore-based
Beam, a micromobility startup with operations across five countries, has raised
$93 million in Series B funding.
The round was led by
private equity firm Affirma Capital and includes participation from Sequoia
Capital India, Hana Ventures, ICT Capital, EDBI, AC Ventures, RTP Global and
Momentum Venture Capital, among others.
Founded in 2018, Beam
currently operates in 35 cities across Australia, New Zealand, South Korea,
Thailand and Malaysia. The company says it will use the funding to expand into
new markets including Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Turkey.
It also plans to add
e-mopeds to its vehicle portfolio, which already includes e-scooters and
e-bikes. Beam also plans to further develop its suite of safety technology,
including what it calls MARS – micromobility augmented riding safety.
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“We are excited to serve new
markets and journeys with our Beam Jupiter e-moped, and to bring our fifth-generation
Beam Saturn e-scooter to cities with MARS technology that will provide
significant advancements in safety, city zoning control, rider behavior
management and sustainability,” says Deb Gangopadhyay, Beam’s co-founder and
chief technology officer.
“We’re particularly proud of the
innovations we’ve created to reduce risks to pedestrians with the Beam
Pedestrian Shield, an onboard AI camera that can instantly and accurately
detect pedestrians to prevent collisions and detect footpaths to automatically
reduce vehicle speed or even prevent riding completely.”
The company says its top-line
revenue grew 15x since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it expects the
need for “safe and sustainable micromobility” to accelerate.