Freebee, a Miami-based company provides free, on-demand transportation to local communities through their mobile app Ride Freebee. It has scored $8 million in Series A funding round from bp ventures (which backed unmanned aviation tech Flylogix), with support from Freebee’s current infrastructure capital partner, Tensile Mobility.
Expansion across the US
This investment will help Freebee boost its technology development capacity and expand the team, helping to scale the business across the US. The service is currently available in more than 25 municipalities and campuses in Florida and Virginia, with Freebee targeting expansion into seven new cities in the two states by the end of 2022. The expansion is expected to help the business move over 1 million passengers by the end of the year.
Besides the investment, Shaun Healey, Principal at bp ventures, will join the Freebee board, along with Dabo Horsfall, CEO of Tensile Mobility.
Shaun Healey, principal at bp ventures, said: “bp ventures invests in companies that align with bp’s ambition to be net zero by 2050 or sooner. The team at Freebee has come up with a brilliant business idea that incentivizes travel by electric vehicles without any cost to the user. We are very proud to have made our first investment in Miami’s thriving tech sector and look forward to getting started with the team.”
Kristopher Kimball, co-founder and managing partner at Freebee, added: “Living in Miami as a student, my co-founder Jason Spiegel and I felt there must be a more economical way of getting around the city. With Freebee we have turned ride-hailing on its head, providing a service that is accelerating the decarbonization of mobility and is free to users. This investment from bp ventures is an endorsement of our idea and together we will roll Freebee out across the US.”
Jason Spiegel, co-founder and managing partner at Freebee, added: “We are really excited at the opportunity to partner with bp ventures, which shares many of the same values that Freebee seeks to spread in our communities each day. Our goal is to accelerate our growth and continue executing our mission of providing equitable and accessible transportation, which in turn helps drive economic development and stimulates the local economies.”
On-demand ride-hailing using EVs
Freebee was founded by Jason Spiegel and Kristopher Kimball in 2012 in Miami. It is an app-based platform for shuttle services via electric vehicles.
Freebee provides free, on-demand, 100% electric transportation as part of the public transit network of many municipalities, colleges and universities, and private entities such as corporate business parks and hotels and resorts. Freebee’s unique platform is transforming the way people experience their communities by inspiring local mobility and seamlessly connecting them with their destination through the Ride Freebee mobile app.
Currently, it operates a fleet of more than 150 electric vehicles in over twenty-five municipalities and college campuses within the state of Florida as well as in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
