A new entry into the scooter market wants to challenge dominant manufacturer Piaggio on its’ home turf. And now ME Electric Scooter (or Scooter Elettrico ME in Italian) has a bit more capital to accomplish its goal.
The campaign on Tip Ventures raised €300,000 from 10 investors closing in less than 90 days. This is the second round of equity crowdfunding for the company. Pre-money valuation of ME Group was set at €1.2 million. Investors that purchased shares via the Tip Ventures offer received voting rights and the ability to appoint members of the board.
ME Electric Scooter is a made in Italy product that is said to focus on product innovation and design. Most scooters today are manufactured in China. The founders of ME Group want to provide a high-quality electric scooter that embraces the unique aspects of Italian design. In Italy, the Vespa has achieved iconic status. So can the ME challenge its older ancestor? I guess we will find out.
Veronica Franzini, President of the ME Group, said the fundraising process had worked out well.
“The experience of equity crowdfunding proved very positive for us, beyond expectations. The collection target was reached well before the scheduled time and among the subscribers there are major companies with which we hope to be able to establish operational synergies. Unfortunately we could not meet all [investment] subscription requests, there were also some from Canada and the United States, but with the same spirit of openness with which we embarked on this first experience of Expansion of, we will not exclude other initiatives in the near future. “
The first scooters have already been pre-ordered and are expected to be delivered at some point in March. The company will then broaden distribution across Italy through a network of distributors. For foreign sales the company is said to be considering licensing other companies to produce and market the electric scooter. The ME scooter is expected to have a range of 80 kilometers with a top speed of 45 kmh.
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