Spin is an electric bicycle-sharing and electric scooter-sharing company. It is based in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and was founded as a start-up in 2017, launching as a dockless bicycle-sharing system controlled by a

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...

for reservations.

History

Spin was founded in 2016 as Skinny Labs, Inc. and announced in January 2017, hoping to bring Chinese-style dock-less bicycle sharing to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Spin raised $8 million in Series A venture capital financing led by Grishin Robotics in May, during preparation for a wider rollout in other cities. Spin launched in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, on July 17, 2017, becoming the city's first dock-less bicycle-sharing system under new regulations from the city government. Spin debuted with 500 bicycles in Seattle, and exceeded 5,000 rides during its first week in operation, surpassing the city's former bicycle-sharing system,

Pronto Cycle Share Pronto Cycle Share, branded as Pronto!, was a public bicycle-sharing system in Seattle, Washington, that operated from 2014 to 2017. The system, initially owned by a non-profit and later by the Seattle Department of Transportation, included 54 ...

. In late July, Spin announced plans to expand to

South San Francisco, California South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is colloquially termed "South City". The population was 66,105 at the 2020 United States censu ...

, as part of a larger national rollout. The New York City Department of Transportation, however, ordered the closure of operations in Rockaway, Queens. In February 2018, Spin rolled out scooter sharing, starting in San Francisco. The scooters were initially priced at $1 to unlock, plus fifteen cents a minute. On April 12, 2018, San Francisco's Public Works department seized several dozen Spin bikes after pedestrians objected to the bikes blocking sidewalks. The company launched in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, during

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

in March 2017. The service was suspended by Spin within a day of launch, due to a dispute with the city government over permits and regulations. With the expiration of Seattle's bikeshare pilot program permit, Spin decided not to seek a new permit with the city and ceased its operations there in September 2018. On November 7, 2018, the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

announced that it had acquired Spin and aims to expand its service to more cities. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' reported that Spin was valued at $80 to 90 million at the time of the purchase. Spin announced in 2019 that in August that year it would deploy 15,000 scooters in Portland,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, Kansas City, Memphis, and

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. In September 2019, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency announced that it has picked 4 operators, including Spin, to each bring 1,000 scooters to San Francisco effective in mid-October, thus doubling the current number allowed. In August 2020, Spin announced it would begin to offer its services in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, starting with

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. In late August 2020, the company continued international expansion by launching in the United Kingdom, starting with

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

followed b
Essex
In early 2021, the company entered three additional countries:

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. In the meantime, the company also added a new CEO, Ben Bear, to the mix which is only their second since inception. In August 2021, the company announced its scooters would be integrated into

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

. Users will be able to see the nearest scooter, distance to it and how long it would take to reach the vehicle. However, Google Maps users will not have the option to rent the scooter while in the app, being redirected to Spin's own application instead. In January 2022, Spin announced its closure of all operations across Germany, Spain, France and Portugal as well as select North American markets due to low profitability. Spin remains active in all limited markets where it was selected as a micromobility operator by city officials. On March 2, 2022, it was announced that Berlin-based had acquired Spin. Spin's UK subsidiary will be transferred into Tier operations but the brand will keep operating in the United States and Canada. In September 2023, San Francisco-based competitor

Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

acquired Spin from Tier Mobility for $19 million. In December 2023, Bird filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

. The company has plans to restructure and sell some of its assets to some of its existing lenders.

Equipment and usage

Spin uses orange-colored, single speed, pedal assist bicycles equipped with onboard GPS units and cellular modems. Bicycles are unlocked using a

that scans a QR code on the bicycle. When it operated in Seattle, bicycles had to be parked in designated landscape/furniture zones on

sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constr ...

s. By disassembling abandoned scooters in Seattle, hobbyists found out that they are powered by a

Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi ( ) is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in collaboration with Broadcom Inc., Broadcom. To commercialize the product and support its growing demand, the ...

4B single board computer.

References

External links

* {{Ford Motor Company Bicycle sharing companies Scooter sharing companies American companies established in 2016 Transport companies established in 2016 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 2016 establishments in California Companies based in San Francisco Transportation in Austin, Texas Transportation in Aurora, Colorado Transportation in Miami Transportation in Charlotte, North Carolina Transportation in San Diego Transportation in Dallas Cycling in Texas Cycling in San Francisco Cycling in Colorado Cycling in Washington, D.C. Cycling in Florida Cycling in North Carolina Cycling in California 2018 mergers and acquisitions 2022 mergers and acquisitions 2023 mergers and acquisitions