AirBie was established in 2018 by Christian Raemy and Philipp Zollinger to enhance green mobility solutions in urban areas. The team developed a complete bike-fleet-management solution consisting of a smart bike lock with integrated GPS, as well as a mobile app and monitoring software. The solution leverages the Internet of Things technology, particularly, the LoRaWAN network for data communication.
Through the pilot project last year in the canton of Zug and with a smaller fleet, the startup gathered feedback from users to enhance its concept. AirBie has now entered the commercial phase, opening the solution to everyone in Zug, Baar and Cham. Thanks to the partnership with the e-bikes manufacturer Flyer AG, AirBie users will have access to e-bikes with up to 25km/h of speed. The company also uses a free-floating system, which allows the users to take and leave the e-bikes in any public parking area for bikes.
AirBie has also launched its mobile application on the AppStore and PlayStore. After logging in and providing credit card information, the user is ready to use the solution. So far, users have completed more than 50 trips.
“We are starting with 20 e-bikes from Flyer AG. The e-bikes are Upstreet-1 Flyer e-bikes, specifically designed to be a “one-for-all” – meaning that they can be used by anyone regardless of their height,” explains Christian.
AirBie solutions used in the Romandie
As part of its next plans, AirBie plans to scale the solution to other regions as well as bring its technology to new applications. “We are supporting the Wiil project, a shared e-scooter project for clients of hotels in the Vevey-Montreux region. We are providing them with our smart locks and a white-labelled version of our app. The project will start in mid-July 2020”, reveals Christian.
(ran)