Skip (transportation company)

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]

Skip
FormerlyWaybots, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryScooter sharing
FoundedDecember 2017 (2017-12)
FoundersMatt Tran, Mike Wadhera, Sanjay Dastoor[1]
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, U.S.
Areas served
Washington, D.C., Austin, TX, San Diego, CA
Websiterideskip.com

History
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

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
  1. 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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