Beam's plans to zoom past SE Asia's e-scooter regulation hitch

Five years ago, Chinese micromobility players like ofo and Mobike burnt loads of cash in their Southeast Asia expansion, but due to infrastructure and regulatory issues, they had to pull back almost immediately. Today, Singapore-based Beam—having recently secured US$93 million—wants to replicate that success without the setback, but competition is close on its heels

Singapore-based micromobility startup Beam raised US$93 million for its Series B in February, the largest round ever raised by a startup in the same space

It currently manages a fleet of 32,000 electric vehicles––e-scooters and e-bikes. With the new funding, Beam plans to introduce e-mopeds into its offerings

Southeast Asia’s first micromobility wave was when bike-sharing operators like ofo, oBike and Mobike took over the region in 2017. But these players crashed and burned

So what’s different about the newer micromobility startups like Beam and Neuron Mobility? How are they navigating the different rules set by governments and local authorities?

“I have never seen a product-market-fit that is so good on the consumer side…”

Alan Jiang is talking about micromobility, a space he’s been “extremely excited” about since his days as head of Southeast Asia at China’s now-defunct bike-sharing giant ofo.

And why wouldn’t he be? Today, Jiang helms Singapore-based micromobility startup Beam, which in February raised the largest ever funding round in the micromobility space in Southeast Asia—at US$93 million.

Founded in July 2018 by Jiang and Deb Gangopadhyay, Beam offers electric vehicles (EVs) like e-scooter and e-bike sharing services across five markets––Malaysia, Thailand, New Zealand, South Korea, and Australia.

AUTHOR

Ka Kay Lum

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Ka Kay covers investment activities, aka following the money, across Southeast Asia and in-depth stories on the often-overlooked Malaysian startup ecosystem. She was previously a regional writer for Nikkei-owned DealStreetAsia.

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