Lime adds Wheels shared e-bikes to its app as it seeks to become a one-stop shop for mobility

The future time you loose Lime's smartphone app, you may see a new case of fomite that isn't an electric automobile ice yacht. The San Francisco-based company announced nowadays that it is desegregation Wheels, a shared electric bike startup, into its app and so customers can charter an e-bike from Wheels as easily as they would a scooter from Slaked lime.

Lime plans to add more shared mobility services to its app in the forthcoming months as it seeks to become both a provider and platform for all machine electric channelize. The "ultimate goal," a spokesperson aforesaid, is to possess "all light galvanising vehicle trips under 5 miles." It's an ambitious single, especially considering that shared electric bike and scoter companies are allay struggling to go a turn a profit as COVID-19 upends supply chains and the transportation segment globally.

Wheels' e-bikes will be available in Lime's app starting this overwinter in four cities: Austin, Miami, Seattle, and Berlin. To rent a Wheels pedal, Linden tree customers will scan the QR encrypt on the handlebar, fitting as they would a scooter. Nearby vehicles will appear on the map along with pricing information automatically. Wheels vehicles will too continue to be available for use happening the Wheels app.

Wheels is a City of the Angels-based startup that rents electric bikes in over a cardinal cities. Its electric-supercharged vehicle falls somewhere in between a cycle and scooter, with no pedals, a seat, small but thick wheels, and a distinctive, low-step frame. Since it was founded in 2019, the company has raised well-nigh $100 million in venture capital letter to investment firm the expansion of its rentable e-bike service. Its in vogue round was last October and was led by DBL Partners, an early investor in Tesla. The company went through a round of layoffs in February and cursed its V.P. for operations.

Lime said the partnership is not a overture to an attainment. The company says that by bringing else companies onto its app, Lime can offer convenience and reliability to its customers. The idea is to expand Burnt lim's user immoral and retain existing customers by offering more options with little app-switching. On the business side, the party says information technology's not entertaining any acquisitions right now.

Wheels South Korean won't be the first e-bikes to be featured on Lime's app. Lime started KO'd as a bike-share party, named LimeBike, earlier pivoting to scooters in 2018. That same twelvemonth, Uber invested all over $300 trillion in Lime in a deal that included integrating Lime's scooters in Uber's app. Earlier this year, in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Uber sold its money-losing wheel-share division, Jump, to Lime in change for a $170 million investment. Uber past scrapped tens of thousands of the bright-red Jump bikes; the left bikes began appearing on Lime's app starting in May.