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Skip (transportation company)

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Skip
FormerlyWaybots, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryScooter sharing
FoundedDecember 2017; 6 years ago (2017-12)
FoundersMatt Tran, Mike Wadhera, Sanjay Dastoor[1]
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, U.S.
Areas served
Washington, D.C., Austin, TX, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, Arlington, VA, Alexandria, VA
Websiterideskip.com

Skip (est. in 2017) was a San Francisco-based company which provided a scooter-sharing system in several American cities. The company was founded by Matt Tran, Mike Wadhera, and Sanjay Dastoor during Y Combinator's winter 2018 class.[2] Skip differentiated itself from competitors by making sturdier scooters with larger batteries, offering instructional classes, and working with cities before rolling out.[1] It was acquired by Helbiz in 2020 and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2021.[3][4]

History

[edit]
A pair of Skip scooters in Clarendon, Arlington, Virginia

Skip was founded as Waybots in winter 2017 by the creators of Boosted Board, as higher-end competitor to other scooter-sharing systems.[5][1]

In May 2018, Skip raised a $6M seed round of funding.[1] In June 2018, the company raised an additional $25M in its Series A round.[6]

In December, 2020, Skip was acquired by competitor Helbiz.[7][8]

Areas served

[edit]

In February 2018, then Waybots launched in its first city, Washington, D.C., as part of a pilot program.[9]

At the end of August 2018, the city of San Francisco gave Skip and Scoot permission to operate dockless scooters in the city.[10] In an email sent out October 15, 2019 to its members, Skip announced that their scooters "will no longer be rentable as part of SFMTA’s Powered Scooter Share Program for 2019-2020" effective immediately, because the scooter batteries had a tendency to catch on fire. Skip has reportedly requested an appeal of SFMTA's decision, in order to continue operations in San Francisco.[11]

Between June and July 2019, Skip launched in San Diego, CA and Austin, TX.[12][13]

The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (dissolution) in 2021.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Constine, Josh (17 May 2018). "Boosted Boards founders launch heavy-duty scooter renter Skip". TechCrunch. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  2. ^ "YC Companies". Y Combinator. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  3. ^ Squires, Camille. "A scooter pioneer has just filed for bankruptcy". Quartz. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  4. ^ SFGATE, Madeline Wells (6 August 2021). "San Francisco e-scooter company files for bankruptcy". SFGATE. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  5. ^ Green, Amanda (3 September 2013). "Backyard Genius 2013: 8 Unusual, Unconventional, Awesome Inventions". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  6. ^ Efrati, Amir; Weinberg, Cory; Zhang, Yunan (12 June 2018). "Scooter Mania Continues as 'Skip' Nabs $25 Million, 'Bird' Goes to China". The Information. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Skip to get acquired, marks further consolidation in e-scooter industry". San Francisco Business Times. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Skip involvement in Helbiz fraud". Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  9. ^ Goldchain, Michelle (28 February 2018). "Waybots's scooter-sharing service arrives in D.C." Curbed DC. Vox Media. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  10. ^ Versano, Carlo; Corba, Jacqueline; Webb, Bridgette (31 August 2018). "Skip CEO: We Do Scooters Without 'Controversy and Complaints'". Cheddar. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  11. ^ Hawkins, Andrew J. (15 October 2019). "Uber, Spin, and Lime scooters are now legal in San Francisco, but Skip is out". The Verge. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  12. ^ Jennewein, Chris (1 July 2019). "Skip Adding Its Scooters to San Diego's Dockless Sharing Market". Times of San Diego. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  13. ^ Widner, Cindy (24 June 2019). "500 new e-scooters will hit Austin streets". Curbed. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  14. ^ SFGATE, Madeline Wells (6 August 2021). "San Francisco e-scooter company files for bankruptcy". SFGATE. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
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