Skip (est. in 2017) was a San Francisco-based company which provided a scooter-sharing system in several American cities. The company was founded by Matt Tran, Mike Wadhera, and Sanjay Dastoor during Y Combinator's winter 2018 class.[1] Skip differentiated itself from competitors by making sturdier scooters with larger batteries, offering instructional classes, and working with cities before rolling out.[2] It was acquired by Helbiz in 2020 and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2021.[3][4]
History
Skip was founded as Waybots in winter 2017 by the creators of Boosted Board, as higher-end competitor to other scooter-sharing systems.[5][2]
In May 2018, Skip raised a $6M seed round of funding.[2] In June 2018, the company raised an additional $25M in its Series A round.[6]
In December 2020, Skip was acquired by competitor Helbiz.[7][8]
The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (dissolution) in August 2021.[4]
Areas served
In February 2018, then Waybots launched in its first city, Washington, D.C., as part of a pilot program.[9]
At the end of August 2018, the city of San Francisco gave Skip and Scoot permission to operate dockless scooters in the city.[10] In an email sent out 15 October 2019 to its members, Skip announced that their scooters "will no longer be rentable as part of SFMTA’s Powered Scooter Share Program for 2019-2020" effective immediately, because the scooter batteries had a tendency to catch on fire. Skip has reportedly requested an appeal of SFMTA's decision, in order to continue operations in San Francisco.[11]
Between June and July 2019, Skip launched in San Diego, CA and Austin, TX.[12][13]
References
- YC Companies Y Combinator, retrieved 2 September 2018^
- Boosted Boards founders launch heavy-duty scooter renter Skip TechCrunch, 17 May 2018, retrieved 22 September 2019^
- A scooter pioneer has just filed for bankruptcy Quartz, retrieved 2021-12-12^
- San Francisco e-scooter company files for bankruptcy San Francisco Chronicle, 2021-08-06, retrieved 2021-12-12^
- Backyard Genius 2013: 8 Unusual, Unconventional, Awesome Inventions Popular Mechanics, 3 September 2013, retrieved 22 September 2019^
- Scooter Mania Continues as 'Skip' Nabs $25 Million, 'Bird' Goes to China The Information, 12 June 2018, retrieved 2 September 2018^
- Skip to get acquired, marks further consolidation in e-scooter industry San Francisco Business Times, 3 December 2020, retrieved 4 December 2020^
- Skip involvement in Helbiz fraud retrieved 3 December 2020^
- Michelle Goldchain. Waybots’s scooter-sharing service arrives in D.C. Curbed DC, Vox Media, 28 February 2018, retrieved 2 September 2018^
- Skip CEO: We Do Scooters Without 'Controversy and Complaints' Cheddar, 31 August 2018, retrieved 2 September 2018^
- Uber, Spin, and Lime scooters are now legal in San Francisco, but Skip is out The Verge, 2019-10-15, retrieved 2019-10-16^
- Chris Jennewein. Skip Adding Its Scooters to San Diego’s Dockless Sharing Market Times of San Diego, 1 July 2019, retrieved 12 August 2019^
- Cindy Widner. 500 new e-scooters will hit Austin streets Curbed, 24 June 2019, retrieved 12 August 2019^