Sunday, 13 October 2024
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World leaders in bike share Motivate and 8D Technologies merge

Bike sharing giant Motivate and technology solutions provider 8D Technologies have announced the two will merge.

Promising a “best in class” delivery of bike share for the future, the North American firms had been working together to deliver 25,000 share bikes by the end of 2017, including a planned ten-fold increase of Ford’s Bay Area GoBike scheme.

The news comes hot on the heels of analysts predicting a “doubling” of bike share availability by 2025.

Motivate is the operator of several of North America’s largest bike share schemes, ranging New York’s Citi Bike (America’s largest) to the San Francisco GoBike scheme, among many others.

Meanwhile, 8D Technologies provides both hardware and software for London’s Santander Cycle Hire, Bixi in Montreal, Abu Dhabi’s ADCB scheme and Melbourne’s main fleet. The firm powers nearly 40,000 bikes globally.

The marriage of the two businesses will now drive forward production of equipment, improvements in the supply chain and the streamlining of operations, starting with Ford’s GoBike.

The merger was brought forward with a substantial investment from Motivate driven forward by Generation Investment Management, which specialises in sustainable investments. David Blood, a senior partner at the firm, will join Motivate’s board.

“Bringing Motivate and 8D together will accelerate bike share innovation and bolster our ability to revolutionize the landscape of cities,” said Jay Walder, President and CEO of Motivate and the combined companies. “Jean-Sébastien and Isabelle Bettez are innovators and pioneers who saw how this technology could be applied to bike share to transform how we move in cities. They have been incredible partners and together I know we can take bike share to the next level.”

“This merger is a testament to 8D’s reputation as an innovative, forward-looking organization that delivers solar-based technological solutions,” said Isabelle Bettez, Co-Founder of 8D. “We are excited to pursue our international expansion from Montreal and to go forward as an even stronger global player with Motivate.”