Whenever you suppose about shared micromobility, Veo isn’t precisely the primary firm that involves thoughts. It’s not as widespread as rivals like Voi, Tier and Lime, and it hasn’t raised practically as a lot in enterprise capital. However as consolidation and, merely put, dangerous enterprise shapes the business, Veo has maintained a gentle and worthwhile tempo. That’s, if CEO and co-founder Candice Xie is to be believed.
Veo, which is probably most famous for its snug sit-down scooters and its continued presence in New York Metropolis’s e-scooter pilot, has caught by a enterprise mannequin that appears at micromobility extra as a utility and fewer as a startup. Moderately than elevating tons of cash to broaden as rapidly as doable within the hope of attaining favorable unit economics, Veo has slowly centered on being sustainable, one metropolis at a time. In June 2021, Veo was in 22 markets. As we speak, it’s in 27, virtually all of that are unique or restricted vendor contracts.
“I’m really a believer that this business takes time to construct, and whoever survives is a very powerful factor. Long run, who can climate all of the loopy market turbulence?” Veo CEO Candice Xie
Whereas VCs would possibly shudder at such apparently sluggish progress — Lime’s world metropolis depend is round 225 — Xie says Veo is on monitor to take care of a sustainable enterprise that continues to show over income.
We sat down with Xie one yr after our preliminary interview to speak about what’s going on with all these layoffs, why scooter ADAS isn’t all it’s cracked as much as be and the way a sustainable monetary base can assist startups climate market turmoil.
The next interview, a part of an ongoing collection with founders who’re constructing transportation firms, has been edited for size and readability.
