Micromobility firm Zeus has made a move into the UK market by acquiring British e-scooter sharing company Zwings.
Based in Ireland, Zeus launched in Germany in 2020 and has since expanded to 42 cities spanning six countries in Europe and Asia.
With a fleet of more than 5,000 unique three-wheeled e-scooters, it has operations in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Croatia, Italy and Malaysia.
Zwings is present in three locations in the UK. Zag data shows it has around 140 e-scooters in Cheltenham, 75 in Gloucester and 55 in Yeovil.
Speaking about why the UK is such an attractive market, Damian Young, Founder and CEO of Zeus, told Zag Daily: “The UK is on our doorstep, it is English speaking and it is one of the most underserved micromobility markets in Europe so there is a lot of potential. We feel there is a significant opportunity for micromobility to be done right here and over the next two years we will see much more integration with transport services.”
Zeus will initially offer a two-wheeled e-scooter in the UK.
“Our main focus in the short term will be on improving the end-to-end e-scooter solution, including operational delivery and customer sentiment,” said Young. “The likelihood is that the fleet could expand to between 600-800 e-scooters over the next 12 months.”
But once UK legislation expands to allow other models, Zeus intends to introduce its safer and more accessible three-wheeled scooter to the market.
The operator has proved in other regions that its three-wheeled scooter is more appealing to a wider range of users, including older generations and those with disabilities.
“Our scooters are designed for people outside the common demographic of men under 30,” said Young. “It is more stable and the ride experience is smoother as the three wheels soak up the road conditions more effectively.”
Zeus has also recently closed a €5m funding round with investors including Enterprise Ireland and BVP Investments. Since closing the round, it has almost doubled its fleet and expanded into ten new cities in Europe.
