Transport: Scoot Networks ventures overseas.
Electric scooter rental company Scoot Networks is making its first foray out of San Francisco and expanding to Barcelona, Spain, next year.
The company, headquartered in the South of Market area, owns a fleet of red electric scooters that can be rented in half-hour increments for $3 to $5. The distinctive minivehicles can be seen all around San Francisco, parked along the street in residential areas or zipping through the city’s often-congested streets.
Scoot Networks has a few employees in Barcelona and is hiring several more, said Stephen Rodriguez, vice president of growth.
Rodriguez said the company chose Barcelona as its second city for a number of reasons, including its population density, climate and residents’ familiarity with scooters as a source of transportation.
“A kid there, when they’re 14, wants a scooter,” he said.
“And grandma, at 70, is still riding. It’s a different frame of mind.”
Rodriguez declined to say exactly when the service will be available in Barcelona, but said it would be sometime early next year.
The company currently has hundreds of scooters throughout San Francisco, catering to those who want to move about the city without having to own a car or take public transportation. Before users can ride a scooter, they must watch a brief training video online, or in person if they are a new driver. No motorcycle experience or motorcycle license is required.
Rodriguez declined to say whether the company — which has about $4.5 million in funding, according to Crunchbase — is profitable. He said Scoot Networks hopes to continue adding cities throughout 2018.
“We are still small, so we basically have a measured approach to this expansion,” he said. “I would love to do every city right away, but you gotta do what’s best.”