Japanese micromobility company Luup, Inc. has raised a total of approximately 4.5 billion yen ($33.55 million), bringing its total capital raised to date to approximately 9.1 billion yen ($67.85 million).
Luup said in a statement that among the fund raised, approximately 3.8 billion yen ($28.33 million) was raised through equity issuance and approximately 700 million yen ($5.22 million) was raised through debt and asset financing.
Luup said it will use the funds raised to further expand its business by increasing the number of stations and improving its vehicles and apps, while focusing more on strengthening
safety measures and raising awareness of new traffic rules in preparation for the enforcement of the revised Road Traffic Act on July 1, 2023.
As in the previous round, Spiral Capital is the lead investor in equity issuance, and additional investments were made by existing investors such as ANRI, SMBC Venture Capital, and Mori Trust.
In addition to new investors including one of the largest pension funds in Japan, 31ventures, a corporate venture capital of Mitsui Fudosan, and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation.
The firm has also initiated transactions with several new financial institutions in debt and asset financing.
According to Luup Chief Executive Officer Daiki Okai, the number of stations for Luup has already exceeded 3,000 in the two years since the introduction of e-scooters, and the firm plans to expand its service area into multiple urban cities.
“Just as railroad companies once developed cities along their lines, we aim to contribute to the value of the surrounding properties by creating LUUP stations on properties far from the train station,
He said that after the implementation of the revised Road Traffic Law scheduled for July 1 of this year, the number of micromobility users is expected to further increase.
He said the firm is currently receiving inquiries from many property owners, municipalities, and companies.
To expand its business, he believes it is important to fulfill the firm’s responsibility as a leading company in the industry and work to improve safety and educate people about the correct rules.
Although there are now more than 60 members in Luup, he said a small number of professionals in the company cooperate with each other to develop and operate the business in each function, such as software development, hardware development, product development, local collaboration, station expansion, operation construction, and corporate development.
“We will continue to maintain our small number of highly skilled members and aim to be an organization that creates new transportation infrastructure in the future,
“We are looking forward to hearing from those who want to build LUUP with us, so that 50 years from now, when people look back on the past, they will say,” he added.
He also said the entire Luup team will continue to work with the firm’s full effort to realize its mission to “create an infrastructure that makes the entire city ‘a station front’.
Luup is a firm creates a new short-distance mobility infrastructure through the sharing service of electric, compact, and single-passenger micromobility.
The firm currently provides a high-density sharing service of e-scooters and e-bikes in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Yokohama, Utsunomiya, and Kobe.
According to Spiral Capital Partner Takashi Chiba, the reason for the firm’s investment is that Luup is a rare company that is trying to create a “social infrastructure”.
“It is no mean feat to build a service that can be called a transportation infrastructure, as it requires cooperation of numerous stakeholders, including users, landowners, local governments, relevant ministries, investors, and public opinion,” he said.
He noted that since the launch of the e-scooter business in April 2021, Luup has developed stations at an overwhelming speed, promoted the creation of a safe and secure system in cooperation with relevant ministries.
“The products have become popular among users and are used daily, leading to the company’s dominant position in the field of micromobility,” he added.
With the implementation of the revised Road Traffic Law, which is expected to further improve convenience, scheduled for July 1 of this year, he expects that the product will continue to evolve as a transportation infrastructure that enriches people’s daily lives.
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