\u00a0to bolster its technological synergies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe startup recently closed its Series C, around $9.1 million, equivalent to 11.9 billion KRW, in the form of a convertible note, which brings its total raised to $21 million since its inception in 2017.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe seven-year-old startup boasted its profitability in stark contrast to its global peers. Gbike posted an EBITDA of $40 million and revenue of $13.7 million in 2022, Yoon said. The startup expects to generate around $50 million in revenue, a 25% increase year on year, in 2023, with 30% of EBITDA and 10% of EBIT in 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe improved the profitability through deep vertical integration from logistics and operations to manufacturing,\u201d Yoon told TechCrunch. \u201cBased on this fully integrated capability, we set out our vision to innovate the micromobility ecosystem through battery-[swapping] infrastructure. And this vision resonated with investors.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe seven-year-old company initiated its battery-swapping station project two years ago. <\/span>Last month, the company partnered with Zentrophy, a Korean battery-swapping infrastructure operator, to build its first battery-swapping station in South Korea this year. It has the ambition to build 4,000 stations across the country by 2030. After becoming financially sustainable with the swappable battery infrastructure<\/span>, the company will allow other privately owned personal mobility manufacturers to adopt Gbike\u2019s battery system for their vehicles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOne of the things that set Gbike apart from its competitors is its capability to build its own vehicles \u2014 e-scooters, e-bikes and batteries, Yoon mentioned. On top of that, unlike peers that outsource the field operators, who pick up vehicles and deliver batteries, Gbike\u2019s full-time, integrated operation team is its other differentiator, which helps the startup streamline the communication channel from field operators to IT developers for better performance, Yoon explained.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGbike launched its own-developed e-bikes in May last year and now operates a fleet of 35,000 e-bikes. It has a fleet of 100,000 electric scooters and 3.4 million users in South Korea. Last year, it also unveiled its own battery to fit not just e-bikes, but also e-wheelchairs, e-strollers, e-scooters and e-mopeds. Gbike, which has 160,000 rechargeable batteries, says around 50,000 batteries are being used daily.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe startup continues investments in international markets. It launched the electric mobility service in Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand, in March and October, respectively. In the first quarter of this year, Gbike intends to launch its service in Vietnam.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Though the startup\u2019s primary focus markets are South Korea and Southeast Asia, it is testing the U.S. market. It launched in Memphis, Tennessee, in July and LA and Guam in December. When asked how it could get through the turbulent micromobility market in the U.S., Yoon said it is testing and learning the new market that is totally different from the markets in which it has been operating.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe company operates a fleet of 2,000 e-scooters in Thailand and another fleet of 2,000 e-scooters in the U.S. Yoon said this year\u2019s goal for Gbike is turning into profit-making in Southeast Asia and the U.S.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGbike has 310 staff as of December, up 34.7% from 230 in February last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While micromobility companies around the globe have been in limbo and hitting snags like\u00a0bankruptcy,\u00a0shutdown\u00a0and\u00a0layoffs, a Seoul-based shared e-scooters and e-bikes operator called\u00a0Gbike is gearing up to go public on the Korean stock market and is reviewing acquisition targets.\u00a0 In an exclusive interview with TechCrunch, Walter Yoon, CEO and founder of Gbike, said the startup is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-66604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tech"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}