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Swedish shared micromobility giant Voi<\/a> had its first profitable year in 2024, according to preliminary unaudited results the company shared exclusively with TechCrunch.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Voi, which offers shared e-scooters and e-bikes across more than 100 markets in Europe, recorded \u20ac132.8 million ($138 million) in net revenue in 2024. On an adjusted basis, Voi earned \u20ac17.2 million ($17.9 million) in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization profit, and around \u20ac100,000 ($104,000) in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT).\u00a0<\/p>\n While \u20ac100,000 profit (on an adjusted basis) doesn\u2019t seem like much to go on, Voi\u2019s founder and CEO Frederik Hjelm told TechCrunch that the company\u2019s modest results demonstrate Voi\u2019s ability to improve its bottom line by 100 percentage points since 2021 is in a \u201ctough industry with lots of ups and downs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Lime, another industry leader, reported full-year profitability in 2023<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNow we\u2019re starting to show real cash positive financials and EBIT profitability, so we\u2019re getting to a place where we\u2019d be a good candidate for the public markets in, say, two to three years from now,\u201d Hjelm said.<\/p>\n Hjelm also noted that a business that revolves around physical assets should highlight EBIT profitability over EBITDA because it\u2019s a metric that better captures the operational cost structure.<\/p>\n Voi didn\u2019t share other financial information like net income and operating expenses. Hjelm said the company would release that information with a more detailed audited report at the end of February.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hjelm did note that Voi\u2019s vehicle profit margins \u2013 which grew to 57%, up from 49% in 2023 \u2013 can be considered a \u201cproxy\u201d for the company\u2019s gross margin.\u00a0<\/p>\n The CEO attributes Voi\u2019s improved bottom line to a series of cost-cutting measures and efficiency improvements such as automation on the product side, and using machine learning models to power predictive maintenance or determine battery swapping schedules. He claimed this has also helped Voi improve the lifespan of its current fleet to around eight years, which has been a \u201cbig driver of profitability improvements.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA thousand small things that distill down to one thing, which is really a focus on discipline and obsession with small details,\u201d Hjelm said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vehicle utilization is also healthy, he said, with each vehicle averaging out at up to 10 rides per day during peak months and two rides per day at off-peak.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe first years [of shared micromobility] were quite chaotic when it came to how many players were in the market, location accuracy on the vehicles, parking clutter, and so on,\u201d Hjelm said. \u201cOver the last three years, we have seen cities maturing and taking what they consider to be the most suitable players to run micromobility schemes in their cities. And that has improved both public acceptance but also profitability on the bottom line for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Voi ended 2024 with \u20ac60 million ($62 million) in cash and cash equivalents. In October 2024, Voi secured \u20ac125 million in senior secured bonds<\/a> ($130M) that are mainly backed by Nordic and American institutional investors \u2014 a step change for the startup that had until then raised<\/a> $675.56 million in equity from VCs, according to PitchBook data.<\/p>\n \u201cMe and my CFO said at the end of 2021 that we don\u2019t want to be dependent on equity investors anymore, so let\u2019s turn this company profitable,\u201d Hjelm said.<\/p>\n Voi completed its first drawdown of \u20ac50 million ($52 million) from the bond issuance, money that will go towards helping Voi expand its fleet and launch in new markets across Europe. Today, Voi counts about 100,000 vehicles in its fleet \u2013 90% of which are scooters.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis year, we\u2019re increasing our bike fleet significantly over the next couple of months,\u201d Hjelm said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRaising a public bond is proof of trust from the very sophisticated public debt bond investors,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n When asked if Voi plans to use any of its cash to acquire other companies \u2013 there have been rumors that Voi is acquiring Bolt\u2019s micromobility business<\/a> \u2013 Hjelm said that there is no confirmed acquisition offer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut I would buy it at the right price,\u201d he said. \u201cBolt is great, but we do micromobility better!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n