Revel pulls electric mopeds after stopping working to make a dent in Austin’s vehicle culture

Shared electrical moped startup Revel stated Friday that it will close down its service in Austin later on

this month. The startup’s CEO and co-founder Frank Reig didn’t position the entire blame on the COVID-19 pandemic, which has triggered ridership to fall across shared micromobility services along with public transit, for the business’s decision. Instead, Reig pointed out the combination of Austin’s “deep-rooted” cars and truck culture, which has only become more engrained during COVID. The service will shut down in Austin on December 18.

“When Revel concerned Austin we understood there would be difficulties,” Reig wrote in the declaration that was published on Twitter. “In addition to having a less thick urban core than our other markets, the city’s deep-rooted car culture has proven challenging to permeate, particularly during COVID.”

The business did not react to a request for comment. TechCrunch will upgrade the post if the company reacts.

Revel, founded in March 2018 by Frank Reig and Paul Suhey, began with a pilot program in Brooklyn and later broadened to Queens, the Bronx and sections of Manhattan. It has actually been on a fast-paced development track thanks to the $27.6 million in capital raised in October 2019 in a Series A round led by Ibex Investors. The equity round included newcomer Toyota AI Ventures and more financial investments from Blue Collective, Launch Capital and Maniv Movement.

Revel broadened to Austin, Miami and Washington, D.C in its first 18 months of operation. In January, the business launched in Oakland and got a license in July to operate in San Francisco.

Revel has had a difficult year, and not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company voluntarily closed down operations in New york city on July 28 after numerous of its users passed away in crashes. The company rebooted its 3,000-strong fleet of mopeds in 4 districts after the city of New York authorized its relaunch strategy, that included several brand-new functions in its app focused on increasing security. Revel included training videos, tests and a helmet selfie feature that needs photographic evidence the user is using a helmet, as well as a community reporting tool.

Article curated by RJ Shara from Source. RJ Shara is a Bay Area Radio Host (Radio Jockey) who talks about the startup ecosystem – entrepreneurs, investments, policies and more on her show The Silicon Dreams. The show streams on Radio Zindagi 1170AM on Mondays from 3.30 PM to 4 PM.