![Three Helbiz scooters on a street corner in Arlington 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Three_Helbiz_scooters_on_a_street_corner_in_Arlington_2.jpg)
Helbiz, Inc. is an Italian-American intra-urban transportation company headquartered in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
with an aim to solve the first mile/
last mile transportation problem of high-traffic urban areas around the world.
Helbiz was founded on 16 October 2015 by Italian
serial entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
,
Salvatore Palella and is the first company to introduce the shared electric scooter model in Italy as early as October 2018 through legalization and regulation of the electric scooters in Italy.
Operations
The Helbiz team acts as an intermediary between peers that use the app by monitoring the vehicles throughout the day and collecting them in the night. Helbiz has become a true leader in the mobility industry, capturing the attention of investors worldwide.
ICO, IPO, and news
Helbiz announced the intention to file a dual list initial public offering on
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
and on the
Borsa Italiana
Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ils ...
AIM Italia exchange.
In August 2019, Helbiz announced it has completed the initial investment round for gross proceeds of approximately $7.13 million. TriPoint Global Equities, LLC was the placement agent.
In October 2019, Forever Sharing, a China-based leader in the production of electric smart mobility vehicles and a subsidiary of the Zhonglu Group, acquired 5% of the share capital of Helbiz, investing 8 million dollars in the company. The investment values Helbiz at 160 million dollars. As a result of the partnership, Forever Sharing will supply Helbiz with 20,000 electric bicycles and e-scooters by the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 to deploy globally. IPO didn't take place in 2019 and in 2020.
In June 2020, in New York Southern District Court a class action case was filed against Helbiz Inc. and its management team. A group of plaintiffs sued Helbiz, which claimed to be developing a transportation rental platform, after purchasing “HelbizCoin” cryptocurrency via the company’s ICO. The plaintiffs claimed they were deceived into purchasing cryptocurrency as part of a company’s “pump and dump” investment scheme
In January 2021 the court ordered the Helbiz Coin is an investment in a common enterprise and Helbiz coin is a security, but the plaintiffs failed jurisdiction.
In February 2021, Helbiz, Inc. announced a merger agreement With GreenVision Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: GRNV), which was finished in August 2021. Helbiz is a Nasdaq-listed public company under the new ticker symbol "HLBZ". The combined company continues to operate under the current Helbiz management team, led by Chief Executive Officer Salvatore Palella. Company valuation at the start was $308m.
In October 2021, The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived a lawsuit against Helbiz. Helbiz investors claimed they were defrauded into buying the HelbizCoin cryptocurrency as part of a "pump and dump" scheme.
Partnerships and events
In January 2019, a new joint venture between Helbiz and
Telepass image:Telepass-A9-20060209.ogv, 300px, Film showing the approach to and passing of a toll station in Italy, using a Telepass OBU. Note the yellow Telepass lane signs and road markings and the sound emitted by the OBU when passing the lane
Telepass ...
formed, allowing riders to rent and pay HELBIZ's e-scooters directly on Telepass Pay. The Telepass
Mobile App
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
allows users to pay for parking, fuel and other mobility costs.
In February 2019, Helbiz partnered with
Matchless
Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc Four-stroke cy ...
to launch a runway show with electric scooters, promoting eco-friendly products and services.
In March 2019, Helbiz partnered with
Moovit
Moovit ( he, מוביט) is an Israel-based mobility as a service provider and journey planner app. It has been owned by Intel through the Mobileye subsidiary since 2020. The company uses both crowdsourced and official public transit data to prov ...
, a
Mobility as a service
Mobility as a service (MaaS) is a type of service that, through a joint digital channel, enables users to plan, book, and pay for multiple types of mobility services. The concept describes a shift away from personally-owned modes of transportation ...
app that aggregates public transportation services of cities,
The partnership is aimed to integrate Helbiz electric scooters into the existing public transportation network.
In July 2019, Helbiz participated in the
New York City E-Prix
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
racing event in
Red Hook,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
for the finale of the ABB FIA
Formula E
Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...
Championship. At the end of the event Helbiz offered New Yorkers the chance to ride its electric scooters on the racing track on the “New Yorkers on Track” experience.
Helbiz partnered with
Ehang UAV
Guangzhou EHang Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd is a company based in Guangzhou, China that develops and manufactures autonomous aerial vehicles (AAVs) and passenger AAVs which have entered service in China for aerial cinematography, photography ...
to establish an aerial ridesharing network of 2
passenger drones Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, have seen an uptick is usage in the early 1990’s. This technology can be used for data collection and analysis, surveillance, research, filmmaking, and other general usage, and although it ...
. This Helbiz service partnered with the governor of
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...
to operate a pilot program of drone taxis on the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
islands.
In September 2019, Helbiz presents the e-bike "Greta", in homage to the young Swedish activist
Greta Thunberg
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.
Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...
. It was presented on the "Green Carpet" of the final ceremony of the Milan Fashion Week. The latest generation assisted bicycle has a 250 W motor and a 14 AH battery to guarantee a range of up to 80 km with a full load and a maximum speed of 25 km / h. In the frame, reinforced in steel, there is also a GPS system that allows the location and subsequent unlocking of the units through the mobile application, similar to what already happens with scooters.
In May 2020, Helbiz launched ''Helbiz Unlimited'', a subscription service that offers unlimited 30-minute trips on its e-bikes and e-scooters, as one of the post-COVID-19 initiative. This service was partnered with the Italian government’s COVID-19 Task Force.
In December, 2020, Helbiz acquired
Skip
Skip or Skips may refer to:
Acronyms
* SKIP (Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase), a human gene
* Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol
* SKIP of New York (Sick Kids need Involved People), a non-profit agency aidin ...
, the first permitted shared scooter service in the United States. In August 2021, Skip entered
Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor. ...
and began dissolution.
In January, 2021, Helbiz was part of the Inauguration of President-Elect
Joe Biden and Vice President
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
as corporate sponsors of the Inauguration.
In February, 2021, Helbiz, Inc. announces merger agreement with GreenVision Acquisition Corp. to become the first micro-mobility company listed on NASDAQ.
In June 2021, Helbiz announced some important partnerships. With Vox, Helbiz created a partnership introducing an "experiential tourism" bringing culture and sustainable mobility together enabling easy access between different points of interest in the city by electric scooter or bike.
Helbiz joined forces with Alipay to offer a safe and convenient mobility service for tourism, safely and in conjunction with the kick-off of the European Championships.
The
Miami FC
The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.
The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...
and Helbiz announced the extension of their exclusive partnership, which includes the continuation of its jersey sponsorship on all Miami FC match kits.
Helbiz Media announced the acquisition of OTT rights for the Serie B Championship for the next 3 seasons (2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024) for broadcasting in Italy, and that it has been chosen by the Serie B League as the exclusive partner for the distribution and marketing of the Serie B Championship rights throughout the world.
References
{{reflist
Companies based in New York City
American companies established in 2015