Image: Zipp Mobility
This marks the Irish company’s first foray into mainland Europe after operating in the UK for several months.
Irish start-up Zipp Mobility will bring its shared e-scooters to the Polish city of Katowice, the company has announced.
This marks its first expansion into mainland Europe, with all five of its current areas of operation located in the UK. Though Zipp is an Irish company, shared e-scooter schemes have not yet been legalised here. Several operators plan to begin operating in Ireland once government passes the necessary legislation
The company says the expansion will bring five local jobs to the Polish city, which is located in the southern region of Silesia. Zipp also plans to expand to nearby cities Dąbrowa Górnicza and Sosnowiec by September.
The company was founded in 2019 by Charlie Gleeson and is based out of NovaUCD, University College Dublin’s centre for entrepreneurship. Zipp says that its customers have spent more than 1m minutes riding the company’s e-scooters since November as part of 100,000 separate journeys.
Last September, Zipp received investment from former Irish rugby captain Brian O’Driscoll. In January, the company announced plans to more than double its workforce and to develop computer vision-enabled “smart scooters” alongside fellow start-up Luna.
Making the expansion announcement, CEO Gleeson said: “We are delighted to be rolling out our e-scooter services for the first time on mainland Europe and are especially pleased to be doing so in Poland, and in particular in Katowice, which over the last number of years has focused on becoming a greener and more sustainable city. This is only our first launch in Poland and we have plans to expand our e-scooter operations across the country.”
The company’s vice-president for growth, Will O’Brien, added: “This is an exciting next step for Zipp after our successful entry into the UK market last year.
“Our promise of ‘mobility done right’ is clearly resonating with cities and as the Irish Government works towards regulating e-scooters, we are excited to launch our service on home soil in partnership with Irish local authorities in the very near future.”
