Bondi is looking to accelerate its current already impressive scaling momentum. Time to catch up with Max Schalow, co-founder of the electric mobility company taking the Netherlands by storm.
A Dutch translation of this article can be found on Emerce.
Max, what does Bondi do?
“We do shared electric bikes. We have an app where you can find the vehicles we have in the street. You can scan the QR code to use one and leave it when you have reached your destination. We are active in 7 cities: The Hague, Amsterdam, Delft, Almelo, Hengelo, Arnhem & den Bosch.
One hand it feels like we are just starting off. On the other hand, we have grown quite quickly in the last few months. We are with 15 people in total now. We are having a lot of fun and are still setting up a lot of things.”
Where are you now?
“We have a fully functional product. So far, we have been completely bootstrapped, as it is so beautifully called in startup terms. We have fine-tuned the product in recent years and have been able to welcome users. We have learned a lot from those users. Now we have a product that has an excellent basis for conquering the market.”
How did Bondi come about?
“It started with me and my friend in uni. We had a small scale pilot 2 years ago. 10 months ago we did a full city launch in The Hague. The first city launch would take two weeks and now it takes one day. The first launch was a lot of fun. We were also worried about what would happen to the bikes once people would use them. We got that process down to a tee now.”
You said you have just released a new app. Could you tell me more?
“This one is smoother. It works much better and it has a bigger capacity for more vehicles. We plan to scale to 23 cities this year. After that we are looking to introduce other vehicles as well.
If you want to go for groceries or when it’s raining, you can use a mini car. If you need to go a longer distance, say to the beach for example, you can use an e-bike.
Usually customers pay per minute and we offer day passes and monthly passes as well.”
Are you looking for investors at the moment?
“Yes, we are looking right now. We are in search of a party to help us scale at a healthy pace. The dream investor would bring in knowledge and network to help us look at problems that come with scaling and find ways to solve them.”
Where is Bondi in five years from now?
“We will be present in all major Dutch cities with different vehicle types. You can leave your house and find the perfect vehicle for your transportation needs using Bondi. We will have expanded to at least one or two international countries. And we will be connected with other services, such as food delivery and events.”
I see it growing into a software company with mobility at its core.
Do you have any advice for other founders based on your experience with Bondi?
“Just go for it. You need to just try to see if it will work. Maybe you should even be a little bit naive to see what happens. You’ll see what’s good and what’s bad. You’ll focus on the good. And build a good support network of people who will help you overcome the problems you will inevitably face.”
More information:
Would you like more information on Bondi as an investor? You can find them on Fundsup:
https://api.fundsup.co/go/s2ROACYxX