CEO and founder Charlie Gleeson said the NovaUCD start-up will use the investment to expand in Ireland, the UK and Europe.

Irish micromobility start-up Zipp Mobility has closed a €6.1m funding round to expand its e-bike and e-scooter services in Ireland and beyond.

Previously featured in SiliconRepublic.com’s Start-up of the Week series, Zipp is currently operating shared e-scooters and e-bikes in towns and cities across the UK and Poland. It recently launched an e-bike sharing scheme in Dublin and it is one of many start-ups that plans to enter the Irish e-scooter market once legislation is in place.

The latest funding round, a mixture of equity and debt, was led by UK-based asset manager Fasanara Capital and backed by existing investors.

Zipp Mobility is headquartered at NovaUCD, the University College Dublin (UCD) centre for new ventures. It was founded by CEO Charlie Gleeson in 2019 to tap into the micromobility space that is projected to reach up to $500bn in value by 2030.

The start-up plans to use the latest funding to expand its operations in existing markets and invest in its growth and operations team.

“It’s great to have so many investors who believe in our long-term vision of ‘mobility done right’,” said 26-year-old entrepreneur and UCD graduate Gleeson, who has extended Zipp’s reach to nine cities across Europe so far.

“This funding will help us bring this approach to more cities and provide more people in Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe with sustainable, safe and community-centric micromobility solutions.”

Fasanara CEO Francesco Filia said that the firm invested in Zipp because of its “differentiated market position and unique value proposition to local government partners”.

“Zipp are an evolved player in the mobility space with a proven track record, sophisticated tech infrastructure and a quality-driven approach, and we believe these factors will continue to drive the company’s success in this fast-growing market,” Filia added.

Before this funding round, Zipp Mobility had secured a total of €2.1m from investors including Balderton Capital founder Barry Maloney and former rugby player Brian O’Driscoll. It has also been backed by Enterprise Ireland as a high-potential start-up.

Reporting: Silicon Republic