Security Startup Tackles Bike, E-Scooter Theft With Smartphone-Opened Chains Secured To Bike Racks
Mosa cofounders Simon Laument, left, and Josh Liu.
“If we wish to get extra individuals on bikes, cities want to deal with bicycle parking safety points for cyclists,” mentioned serial entrepreneur Josh Liu, cofounder of Mosa, a London-based startup.
Together with Simon Laumet, an industrial designer, the pair need area homeowners—comparable to workplace buildings, residential developments, and purchasing facilities—to retrofit commonplace freestanding bike racks with their rugged chains locked and unlocked with smartphones.
Mosa’s retrofitted chain lock.
Based virtually three years in the past, Mosa was initially generally known as GoVelo.
“We provide safe parking for bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, and cargo bikes, and the identify GoVelo may need urged a spotlight solely on bikes, which is why we determined to vary it,” defined Liu, who has beforehand labored for Foxconn, one of many contractors Apple use for the manufacture of iPhones.
Liu, 45, and Laument, 34, have beforehand labored on bicycle-based startups, together with the now-defunct Honor Cycles, a cell cycle upkeep agency.
“We’re keen about biking and its inclusive nature,” mentioned Liu.
“We consider that safe parking must be out there to everybody, no matter earnings.”
Mosa’s proprietary software program and good lock {hardware} will probably be supplied for a subscription price to area homeowners, who can entry utilization statistics by means of a digital dashboard.
Bike and e-scooter homeowners reserve a lock by means of Mosa’s app; an encrypted secret’s then despatched to the consumer’s smartphone. The cellphone’s NFC will activate the lock and ship the acquired encrypted key by way of Bluetooth for id verification.
The {hardware} utilized by Mosa is manufactured by Big of Taiwan, the world’s largest producer of high quality bicycles.
“Big is the perfect manufacturing companion for our firm,” mentioned Liu.
“As a Taiwanese myself, I labored laborious to persuade Big to work with us. Big’s AIPS Know-how division works on revolutionary tasks with different startups. We presently have a patent pending on our expertise. Big presents us their mechanical engineering, digital engineering, and manufacturing experience to assist us within the design-for-manufacturing part. Later, they may drive the availability chain to assist us manufacture our locks.”
Mosa has acquired monetary backing from the European Institute of Innovation and Know-how’s $429 million City Mobility program.
The primary large-scale trial of Mosa’s service befell in Tel Aviv, Israel, in November final yr. A two-week trial will begin subsequent week at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, run in partnership with the London Legacy Growth Company.
Mosa is searching for micromobility customers to hitch the trial and check the good lock expertise. The app, warns a Mosa assertion, is “unpolished.”
The trial areas will probably be on the London Aquatics Centre and the Timber Lodge Cafe.
Liu mentioned Mosa would quickly unveil a program for traders.
“We wish to put our social mission first,” mentioned Liu, “after which earlier than launching our fairness crowdfunding marketing campaign we will probably be searching for funding from traders who share our ardour for sustainable transportation and social affect.”
