ONE MOTO secures seven-figure investment
Adam Ridgeway , CEO of ONE MOTO
Electric motorcycle and e-bike startup ONE MOTO, has raised a bridge round, via crowdfunding platform Eureeca. The investment was led by the company’s CEO Adam Ridgeway and Miray Zaki, managing partner of Dismatrix. While the full seven-figure amount was not disclosed, ONE MOTO’S Eureeca page shows it raised $405,873 with an additional $130,000 invested separately. The company is expecting another $500,000 to come through in private investment, taking it up to seven-figures.
The British company, which launched last year in the UAE, is hailed as the region’s first electric vehicle company focused on food service and last-mile delivery, with more than 80 co-owners of its special purpose vehicle (SPV).
Pitching to a potential investor is a daunting experience at the best of times. Some eager entrepreneurs in Dubai recently took it up a notch by delivering high-pressure elevator pitches at an altitude of 4,000 metres, in the hopes of taking home mentorship and a cash prize.
To enter the Pitch Up In The Sky competition, an event where skydiving meets Dragon s Den, companies had to have less than $500,000 in funding, be from the Middle East or Africa and be focused on healthcare, education, artificial intelligence, media & entertainment or transportation.
Finalists were selected by an impressive panel of judges, including the inventor of Google Maps, Lars Rasmussen; the first investor of Zoom, Bill Tai; and a founding executive of Netflix, Mitch Lowe.