E-moped start-up Unu raises 18 million euros

What was heard from Unu recently did not sound good. Now the start-up has decided to get out of the sharing business and focus on the B2B business. Investors are convinced: in a current financing round, Unu raises 18 million euros.

Things are looking up again for e-scooter provider Unu: in a recent round of financing, the Berlin-based company raises 18 million euros, as Gründerszene reported. The existing investors are Berlin-based venture capitalist Capnamic Ventures, Iris Capital from France and VC Ponooc from the Netherlands. A strategic investor from Singapore is a new addition. The money will be used to drive forward the production of the e-mopeds.

Unu has been hit hard by the Corona pandemic: Actually, the delivery of the e-mopeds was supposed to start in 2019, but due to delivery problems of suppliers, there was always a lack of individual parts. Now CEO Pascal Blum is rebuilding the start-up: the sharing division is being discontinued, the workforce has been reduced from 120 to 85 employees and the range will only be offered in France in Paris, the contracts with the Dutch partners have been terminated. It's a radical restructuring designed to keep the company in the market. The sharing business is highly competitive, Unu would have to compete with other and established providers.

Founded in 2013, the start-up sells e-mopeds that run emission-free and are now available for B2B customers to buy. Unu opened its first flagship store in Berlin a few weeks ago. Co-founder Elias Atahi left the company in 2019. Blum continues to lead Unu and is confident about the future: "For the first half of the year, we now already have all the parts together to be able to finish the scooters and deliver them in mid-February," the CEO tells Gründerszene.