Wind, one of the world’s leading e-scooter sharing providers, has triumphed in a public tender process to become an approved partner for micro-mobility services in the city of Milan.
Wind Mobility, founded in 2017, aims to make cities a better place by reducing traffic, carbon dioxide emission and noise, with its eco-friendly e-scooters (making it onto our list of clean-tech startups to watch out this year). Its priority for its e-scooters is availability via the app, also offering services to its clients (cities, companies, hotels and universities), such as hourly/daily rents and employee bonus programmes.
In its first expansion into Italy, Wind began researching the potential of the Milan market in February this year, and was among the first providers to apply for the tender. The successful outcome means 750 of Wind’s third-generation e-scooter models will hit the city streets from January 2020.
Wind has honed its expertise as a world leader in the micro-mobility market in more than 15 cities across Europe and Asia. Its successful application in Milan reflects its approach of dedicated local teams created to address the mobility needs of each city, and working closely with city officials to implement a fit-for-purpose e-scooter infrastructure. An example of this approach is in Barcelona, Spain, where Wind became the first approved e-scooter rental platform earlier this year.
Ed Schmidt, Wind’s EMEA CEO, said: “This is huge for Wind. We’ve been excited about the potential of the Italian market for a long time – with its modern, vibrant cities and warm weather climate. We see Milan as the perfect starting place to offer our market-leading scooters to Italian riders.”
Matt Turzo, Wind’s EMEA COO, added: “We can’t wait to introduce the people of Milan to Wind. Our mission is to make our customers feel like superheroes, turning every moment of travel misery into one of joy, and that ethos also extends to the way we partner with city officials. We are focused on offering the safest, cleanest and most enjoyable micro-mobility solutions available.”
Released in September 2019, Wind’s latest top-of-the-range e-scooter model was built from the ground-up at its R&D center in Asia. The hardware is equipped with the most up-to-date technologies and industry-leading safety features, including a handbrake which allows for smooth braking, two bright lights and a reflective Wind ‘superhero’ logo to maximise visibility. A horn button has also replaced the traditional bell to act as a louder audio alert.
