Temasek in $300m round for Taiwan scooter maker
Singapore’s Temasek Holdings has joined a $300 million funding round for Taiwan-based electric scooter manufacturer Gogoro.
Other new investors in the round include Generation Investment Management, a London-based firm whose founders include former US Vice President Al Gore, along with Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Corporation and multinational energy player Engie. Existing backers Panasonic Corporation and Samuel Yin, chairman of Taiwan conglomerate Ruentex Group, also took part, according to a VentureBeat story linked from Gogoro’s Twitter account.
Gogoro manufactures both its signature Smartscooter and the proprietary batteries that the scooter uses. The batteries are designed to be swapped at special battery stations, eliminating the need to wait for recharging. Customers pay a $25 monthly subscription fee – in addition to the cost of the scooter – to use the stations.
The company will use the new capital to accelerate analysis of battery usage data and to develop new vehicle models for different demographics – currently, it makes three models, two focused on performance and one aimed at families. It also wants to expand its network of battery stations. Gogoro operates more than 400 stations in Taiwan - sufficient to support journeys from Taipei to the southern tip of the island - and recently launched in Berlin and Paris as well.
The battery stations and associated internet infrastructure are the most significant challenge to rolling the service out in new markets. Its launch in Berlin and Paris was done in partnership with Coup, a subsidiary of German engineering and electronics conglomerate Bosch. Coup runs the venture as a bike-sharing service: customers rent the scooters for short durations then drop them off when done, after which Coup handles the battery swapping and recharging.
Since its founding in 2011 Gogoro has raised over $480 million. Previous investments include a $130 million Series B round in 2015 led by Taiwan’s National Development Fund.
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