13 December 2021 – GO Sharing has taken a majority stake in the moped sharing platform Zig Zag Sharing. Through this investment, the world’s largest supplier of shared e-mopeds will also become active in Italy, starting in Milan, Rome, Turin and Florence. In January, Zig Zag will become 100% electric, thanks to an initial delivery of 500 GO Sharing e-mopeds. The green electric shared mopeds will colour the streets of Rome, replacing the old petrol-powered motor scooters. GO Sharing and Zig Zag aim to grow the fleet to 3,000 shared e-mopeds and 1,500 e-bikes, spread across 10 different cities in Italy, by the end of 2022.
GO Sharing is already active in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Turkey. After raising an investment of €50 million in April of this year, the company is now targeting the southern European market. The investment in the Italian company Zig Zag Sharing is GO Sharing’s first move in the expansion of its operations in this part of Europe.
Founded in 2015 as the first Italian moped sharing operator, Zig Zag Sharing currently operates over 700 mopeds in Milan, Rome, Turin and Florence. The company has over 130,000 users and it partners with large Italian companies like train operator Trenitalia, post logistic provider Poste, Telepass and Telepass Pay as well as Axpo, one of the largest renewable utility companies in Europe. Zig Zag has also established several partnerships with major Italian universities.
The Zig Zag Sharing vehicles will eventually all be branded in GO Sharing style. This is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022, but GO Sharing will introduce its own shared vehicles in Italy before that time. The first 500 electric GO Sharing mopeds will be stationed in Rome in January to replace all Zigzag petrol-powered motor scooters. Until the Italian launch of the GO Sharing app in early 2022, the e-mopeds can be booked through the Zig Zag Sharing app. The company aims to have 3,000 shared e-mopeds and 1,500 e-bikes in service across 10 Italian cities by the end of 2022.
Zig Zag Sharing founders Emanuele Grazioli and Diego Rocca released a statement saying: “We founded Zig Zag Sharing in 2015 in Rome with the ambition to change the status quo, bringing new mobility solutions to fight the traffic and pollution in our Italian cities while providing a sustainable, safe and fun solution to our customers, with the users always at the centre of our developments. The unique opportunity provided by the GO Sharing team will make our shared values regarding sustainability the focal point for our teams in this joint mission to shape the future of mobility.”
A green planet with shared mobility by everyone, for everyone
This month, GO Sharing was recognized as the largest shared moped platform in the Global Moped Market Report 2021. In addition to shared mopeds, the company also offers shared e-bikes and, since December 2021, shared electric cars. With this full mobility solution, the company facilitates door-to-door transport that can be managed in a single app.
GO Sharing, originally a Dutch company, has the mission to make shared transport the global norm. GO Sharing CEO Raymon Pouwels explains: “Our motto is ‘a green planet with shared mobility by everyone, for everyone’. With GO Sharing we want to bring about the mentality shift from personal ownership to shared use, worldwide. We want to provide a door-to-door travel solution, worldwide, with sustainable shared transport: within cities with shared e-mopeds and e-bikes and between cities and regions with electric cars. We are proud to be able to expand our mission to Italy. E-mopeds are already widely used here and our goal is to convert that use to electric rides via shared transport. This step fits in with the long-term strategy to provide everyone with a sustainable shared vehicle, everywhere and at any time and we expect to make even more acquisitions in Europe and beyond in the coming years.”
