E-scooters and e-bikes have taken over Europe. Now investors are betting millions that travellers will pay to subscribe to the micro vehicles

• Startups offering subscription services for vehicles like e-bikes are springing up across Europe.
• Investors are starting to back subscription vehicles following the success of e-scooters to date.
• The move is part of a wider trend away from ownership to using subscriptions among younger people.

E-bikes and scooters being littered around major European cities have become a common sight over the last five years, as startups pitch themselves as a solution to transport’s “last-mile” problem.

A few companies are emerging as the leaders in the micromobility sector, an umbrella term that largely refers to small, electric vehicles that tend to be lightweight and are unable to travel faster than 25 miles per hour.

Companies like Lime, Dott, Bolt, and Bird have expanded as Europeans gravitated toward the new form of transport. Their business model centers around rental, where users can pick up a scooter or bike from a location, use an app to unlock it for a fee before returning it to a specific parking site.