Vulog Raises $20M to Accelerate Growth
Vulog, the shared mobility technology provider powering some of the world’s most successful services across 4 continents, has raised $20 million in Series B funding with the participation of Frog Capital (UK), Inven Capital (Czech Republic), as well as historic investors Bpifrance (France) and ETF Partners (UK). These funds will be used to strengthen the company’s leadership in the mobility space, both to grow its sales and marketing teams and further the development of its technology.
Vulog offers a comprehensive and customizable SaaS solution that enables mobility operators — such as car rental companies, car manufacturers or any other corporation, whether a startup or global group — to launch and operate shared mobility services, including free-floating, corporate, one-way station-based and round-trip carsharing, with various ride-hailing integrations. The solution connects OEM embedded hardware or Vulog’s robust in-car technology with a powerful mobility platform, expert back-end management for the operation of a service, and advanced data analytics tools. Clients have the freedom to personalize Vulog’s product to suit their needs, even by combining various mobility offerings together within a single service. Vulog’s technology currently powers over 10 million trips per year.
“We can offer our clients insights that no one else can, thanks to the experience accumulated by powering dozens of services for a number of years, including many electric vehicle (EV) services,” explains CEO Greg Ducongé. “The combination of our world-class software solution, our unique expertise, our optional hardware designed to enhance the mobility experience and our cutting edge analytics module makes Vulog a one-of-a-kind partner for any operator in this fast-changing market.”
Since its inception in 2006, Vulog has focused on offering the industry’s best and most flexible technology to mobility operators. The founders’ vision of future mobility propelled the company to pursue not only free-floating solutions, for which Vulog is recognized as a global leader, but also a round trip carsharing platform that powers a dozen services today. Currently, the company has offices in Paris, Nice, Vancouver, and Toronto, and is opening its first US office in San Francisco, California, in September. Vulog’s clients include Evo Car Share in Vancouver (the largest independent free-floating operator in North America with 1250 vehicles), the record-breaking emov in Madrid (550 vehicles) and GreenMobility in Copenhagen (450 vehicles), as well as Mevo in New Zealand and Urbano in São Paolo, among others.
“Vulog has achieved tremendous growth since Bpifrance and ETF Partners first invested in 2015 and we are delighted to further expand the shareholders group internationally with this growth financing round,” said Gilles Schang of Bpifrance and Fabrice Bienfait of ETF Partners.
“This round of fundraising is a testament to Vulog’s ambitions. In the past year, we have seen our company grow by more than 100 percent, and the funding comes at the right time to allow us to execute the next steps of our plan, including an acceleration of our operations in North America,” Ducongé elaborates. “Our recent growth barely skims the surface of what could be a massive boom in this rapidly evolving industry.”
With this significant Series B investment, Vulog will continue its expansion worldwide, and plans to hire dozens of people in the next three months. Already in the pipeline are more product innovations, including more analytics tools to support its clients, and commercial growth, including a scooter-sharing project in a major city, and planned partnerships in the North American and Asian markets.
“Tectonic change is underway in the automotive industry. With its global leadership in mobility infrastructure technology, Vulog is uniquely positioned to become a significant strategic player through its scale-up phase. We are delighted to be backing Greg and his team,” said Mike Reid, Managing Partner at Frog Capital.
“With their innovative, class-leading product and strong team, they are ideally placed to drive disruption in the transportation industry. Vulog’s solution strongly promotes e-mobility and the required charging infrastructure surrounding it. This fits perfectly into our portfolio of cleantech investments,” concludes Ivo Němejc, Investment Director at Inven Capital.
