Saturn e-scooter roll out gets major funding boost

Leading Singapore based micromobility company Beam has secured $US93 million in new funding to accelerate the company’s deployment of its fifth generation Beam Saturn e-scooter, along with enhanced safety technologies based on Micromobility Augmented Riding Safety, or MARS.

Beam, Asia Pacific’s leading micromobility company operating e-rideables in 15 cities across Australia, has announced a Series B funding round of $US93 million ($A128 million) led by private equity firm Affirma Capital and including participation from Sequoia Capital India, Hana Ventures, ICT Capital, EDBI, AC Ventures, RTP Global, and Momentum Venture Capital, among others.

Beam currently operates hireable electric bicycles and scooters across Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia.

The influx of cash will be used to accelerate deployment not only of the company’s new 5^th generation Saturn e-scooter but will also be used to enhance Beam’s suite of safety technologies through the deployment of Micromobility Augmented Riding Safety, or MARS.

The new 5^th generation Saturn e-scooter boasts 12-inch wheels – 20% larger than the average e-scooter – along with hydraulic suspension and fully swappable batteries with a range of 110-kilometres which is, again, double the average e-scooter battery capacity.

“We are excited to serve new markets and journeys with our Beam Jupiter e-moped, and to bring our 5th generation Beam Saturn e-scooter to cities with MARS technology that will provide significant advancements in safety, city zoning control, rider behavior management, and sustainability,” said Deb Gangopadhyay, Beam’s co-founder and chief technology officer.

“We’re particularly proud of the innovations we’ve created to reduce risks to pedestrians with the Beam Pedestrian Shield, an onboard AI camera that can instantly and accurately detect pedestrians to prevent collisions and detect footpaths to automatically reduce vehicle speed or even prevent riding completely.”

The Beam website does not actually reference the Jupiter e-moped at all, and an internet search of the name only pulls up a handful of old reviews from 2013, so it is uncertain, exactly, to what Beam’s co-founder is referring.

The company nevertheless explains that it is looking to become “the first tri-modal micromobility operator in Asia Pacific by introducing e-mopeds into its vehicle portfolio” which could refer to the Beam Jupiter and future technological rollouts.

Beam is looking to not only accelerate deployment of its e-scooters and safety technology, but also expand into new markets including Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Turkey.

Beam’s MARS technology will also greatly enhance safety for those riding Beam e-scooters and e-bikes, delivering AI-driven footpath and pedestrian detection, instant enforcement of geofencing rules such as no parking zones, slow zones, and designated parking spots thanks to centimetre-precise positioning accuracy, and sensor-based riding behaviour analysis that can detect and reduce intoxicated riding, tandem riding, or aggressive braking and swerving.

‍“Micromobility has taken cutting edge safety systems such as Beam’s MARS technology and implemented them onto small electric vehicles such as e-scooters, e-bikes, and e-mopeds to help cities flow better for everyone,” said Alan Jiang, Beam co-founder and chief executive officer.

“We are extremely excited to partner with a visionary fund such as Affirma Capital to bring lower cost, greener, and safer mobility for cities across APAC.”

“The micromobility industry is unfolding rapidly in Asia Pacific and Beam is the regional leader in the space,” added Taeyub Kim, co-founder and head of Korea at Affirma Capital.

“Beam is equipped with highly capable management, technological agility, proven operational capabilities, and a capital-efficient expansion strategy to solidify its leadership. We believe that Affirma Capital’s cross-regional footprint and strong network will fuel the Company’s exponential growth.

“Micromobility is an industry that looks to be dominated by top tier regional category winners. We believe Beam is well-positioned to be the category winner in Asia Pacific,” Kim said.