Pivots and partnerships. Those are two words that start with P that A2B Bikeshare hopes will add up to yet another P word: profit.
The Ann Arbor-based startup, homed in
Menlo Innovations' Startup Garage, recently executed a pivot in its business plan and struck a partnership that helps move its new bikesharing technology forward. It's in the midst of launching its technology in a couple U.S. cities with more plans in the works.
"We're looking to launch a couple of hundred bikes before the end of year," says Ansgar Strother, founder & CEO of
A2B Bikeshare.
The 1-year-old startup wants to become the Uber or Lyft (popular car-sharing startups) for bicycles. A2B Bikeshare originally got its start with the idea of launching bike-sharing programs for cities with fleets outfitted with touch screens and credit card swipes for users to navigate and pay on.
"It ended up being too expensive and not durable enough," Strother says. "We switched to a low-energy bluetooth technology."
The general idea of launching a bike sharing program for a city is still the same now but use a mobile app for patrons to reserve and pay for their bike.
"When you're all done you just push it back into the rack," Strother says.
A2B Bikeshare also struck a partnership with a bicycle supplier that provides bicycle fleets for large corporations. A2B Bikeshare plans to leverage those fleets of bikes for its own customers.
Today A2B Bikeshare is working to launch a bike-sharing fleet in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Marfa, Texas. It is also working to launch in other cities before the end of the year and lay the groundwork for a national network of bicycles its patrons can use across the country.
Source: Ansgar Strother, founder & CEO of A2B Bikeshare
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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