Beryl secures £2m funding to open UK manufacturing hub
Bike share firm Beryl has reportedly banked £2 million in funding that it will now use to open a UK manufacturing hub to further develop its proprietary technologies.
The cash injection comes courtesy of Birmingham-based Frontier Development Capital’s (FDC) Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative Recycled Fund (AMSCI), which is working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to find projects to advance UK Manufacturing. Beryl’s new operation will call Poole in Dorset home.
Aside from utilising its technology within its own hire fleets, Beryl is also and OEM supplier to others, most notably London’s Santander Cycle scheme, as well as the West Midlands Cycle Hire fleet.
Philip Ellis, CEO and founder of Beryl, said: “This investment is crucial in helping Beryl build upon the success we have already had in encouraging more people to take up sustainable travel options, reducing harmful carbon emissions and traffic congestion while improving air quality and public health.
“We’ve led the industry in the development and deployment of connected technologies that keep riders and pedestrians safe while also managing the deployment of our bikes. As more electric-powered bikes and scooters launch, we find that off-the-shelf products do not meet the standards that both we and our customers expect.
“That is why it’s crucial that we meet the challenge of the constantly evolving micro-mobility sector, by developing and producing the next generation of electric vehicles such as our new e-bike”.
