As the bike-sharing scene in Singapore pulled on its brakes, e-scooter sharing firms took the opportunity to position themselves as the preferred form of urban transport.
One such company is San Francisco-based Lime, who received a “sizable” amount of funding from ride-hailing company, Uber.
It cruised onto our sunny shores in November last year, launching its services at Ascendas-Singbridge properties at Singapore Science Park 1 and 2, Changi Business Park, and International Business Park.
However, the company announced today (26 July) that it will “withdraw its application for a sandbox license with the Land Transport Authority of Singapore in the short term”.
Here’s the statement in full:
Lime has decided to reprioritize our efforts to meet the fast growing and strong demand for micromobilty around the globe and withdraw our application for a sandbox license with the LTA in the short term.
We will maintain our corporate support team in Singapore and our commitment to the region is unwavering. The exponential growth of our business requires us to prioritize our expansion efforts to ensure that we continue to deliver the best possible experience for our riders and just as importantly for the cities in which we serve.
We look forward to continue working with the LTA and delivering convenient and affordable transportation options to the people of Singapore in the future.
Wayne Ting, Lime Global Head of Operations and Strategy
Following its launch in Singapore in 2018, Lime rolled out a $4.2 million ‘Respect the Ride’ campaign, a rider safety education programme here.
In 2018, it was valued at US$1.1 billion after raising US$355 million in total.
The e-scooter sharing company announced in April this year that it planned to set up its Asia Pacific (APAC) headquarters in Singapore in the third-quarter of 2019.
Ashwin Purushottam, Lime’s General Manager for Singapore had said, “Singapore is a strategic location for Lime due to its strong potential for growth and high existing adoption rate of personal mobility devices (PMDs).”
Founded in 2017, Lime is present in over 100 markets and has had over 10 million people signed up with its app.
Vulcan Post reached out to Lime with additional queries on the move to withdraw its application, but they have declined to comment further.
Featured Image Credit: NZ Herald