20 Things You Didn’t Know About VeoRide
VeoRide is a fairly new transportation startup that provides easy and convenient short-distance transportation options. The business serves clients with a ride-sharing program that is unique. It uses electric bikes with a different platform than most other providers in the industry. The approach is so interesting that it merits further attention and promotion because of all of the benefits it offers. In case you have not yet heard about it, here are 20 things about VeoRide that you probably didn’t know.
1. VeoRide was born out of a need
Candice Xie is an entrepreneur who knows what it’s like to walk from one end of a college campus to another, with strict deadlines for getting to class. She and Edwin Tan came up with an innovative solution about how to make it easier for students to get from point A to point B quickly. Both founders are graduates of Purdue University who met while working at the Purdue Foundry Project as part of their academic requirements. They discussed the problem of short-distance travel and came up with a workable solution that extends its services far beyond the college campus.
2. Xie sees electric scooters as a tool to help people with quality equipment
According to Techcrunch, Candice Xie believes that electric scooters are a useful tool for people to use as a utility. She and Tan developed a plan for maximizing their usefulness through a ride-sharing program that takes a different approach than its competitors in the last-mile transportation industry. Many operators deploy bikes of poor quality. Xie and Tan purposefully insist that the bikes used in VeoRide are high-quality and safe for users.
3. VeoRide is based on research
Edward Tan and Candice Xie spent time conducting market research to determine gaps in the last-mile transportation niche. With the notion of building a meaningful service for the public, the pair wanted to identify the current problems with this type of transportation and create a business that provided solutions to the problems. They learned that the quality of the equipment was a concern with users, along with safety, convenience, and affordability. This was enough information for them to develop a solution that answered the key concerns.
4. Veo started slow but steady
Xie and Tan launched their e-scooter company but they did so slowly. Their business approach was different than most companies that immediately go after VC funding for rapid growth and expansion. They started with 160 e-bikes that were all painted the same color. They negotiated a contract with Purdue to offer the service to students on campus and started slowly for the first year to see what would happen. They didn’t go deeply into debt or give away half interest in the company for funding.
5. Veo was profitable from the start
Xie and Tan created an app with an automated technology platform. The app is a resource to reserve the bikes, picking them up from the designated pick-up area, then automatically paying for the service via one convenient digital app. When one user finishes, the bike was put on the available rentals roster and went out nearly as quickly as it came in. Without a significant investment in advertising and marketing or other overhead costs of ramrodding a business into rapid growth, they built a reputation for quality, affordability, safety, and convenience, hitting all of the targets. VeoRide was remarkable, a profitable startup from the beginning to the present.
6. Veo is a young company
According to Crunchbase, Veo has only been in business for just over four years. It launched in 2017 in Lafayette, Indiana on the Purdue college campus. VeoRide is a bike-share application that started with university campuses through a reservation platform. It’s rare for a startup of this nature to become so successful in such a short time.
7. Veo is environmentally-friendly
One of the goals of Xie and Tan is to ensure that their business leaves the smallest possible carbon footprint. Both are concerned with the health of the planet. This is why they opted to use electronic-powered scooters. They also use an automatic platform that performs most tasks digitally to lessen the need for contracts and paper usage. Riders can learn everything they need to know from the app and there is no great need to go through traditional advertising campaigns other than in the online environment. The bikes are clean-running and do not contribute to the detriment of the environment, yet they are convenient forms of transportation that do away with the need for traditional bike riders to pedal and expend energy to get from one place to another.
8. VeoRide is a versatile tech company
VeoRide is listed under three major industry categories because of the nature of the business it conducts. It is in the transportation industry as it provides rental e-scooters for users to move around for short-distance travel. It is also listed under Apps and software because it is a ride-share app developer. The app and software were created by VeoRide.
9. VeoRide relies on 24 technology products
The array of technologies used by the VeoRide site is complex. The website is actively using a total of 44 technologies which are distributed over 24 technology products. Some of the products used include jQuery, Google Analytics, HTML5, Google Font API, WordPress, and others.
10. VeoRide’s monthly visitors are growing
VeoRide keeps track of the number of visitors who browse through its website. The analytics for website traffic shows that the monthly visits to the website have grown by a rate of 5.15 percent in recent months. The average number of monthly visitors is 53,374. Of the millions of websites registered on the world wide web, VeoRide is ranked as number 438,785 based on the number of monthly web visits.
11. Most web traffic comes from the United States
The majority of visitors to the VeoRide website are from the United States. The analysis reveals that ninety-nine percent are from the U.S. with a monthly visit growth rate from this country of 6.47 percent. One percent of the web traffic comes from people who live in the country of Thailand. This shows that VeoRide is still very much an American company that has not yet generated much interest in other countries outside of the borders of the United States. The model could easily be replicated in other countries throughout the world, however.
12. VeoRide created a new ride-share vehicle
According to PRN, VeoRide developed a new vehicle for use in their last-mile commuting fleet. With the same goal of making the service convenient and comfortable, the Veo Cosmo was developed. This is a vehicle that is the first seated electric vehicle made for the stresses and strains of shared use. The new e-vehicle is easier to ride than a scooter or bike and it’s more compact than a moped. It’s suitable for a range of different body types to provide more comfortable and safe travel for short trips. It’s also suitable for use n all weather conditions and variable terrain.
13. VeoRide has a research and development team
The R&D team at VeoRide is responsible for the creation of their unique fleet of electric vehicles that are used for the ride-sharing business. This allows the design team to focus on engineering vehicles that make the company a unique provider in its niche of the short-distance transportation industry. Each of the new Cosmo vehicles is custom-built for accessibility and comfort.
14. VeoRide has gained greater sustainability than most
Another aspect of VeoRide that sets them apart from the competition is their sustainability. Statistics show that the average life span of a typical e-scooter that is used for rentals is about three months, before needing repairs or retirement. The vehicles receive a lot of rough use. VeoRide has created vehicles that have a longer lifespan between 2 to 3 years. This gives them an edge in sustainability as well as profitability. The fleet of vehicles built by VeoRide are not modifications of consumer-grade products, which also makes them unique and of higher quality.
15. The Veo Cosmo is suitable for city use
VeoRide has expanded its operation to include not only college campuses but also short-distance city commutes. The new Cosmo was designed with features that comply with city regulations including geofence parking, speed control, remote shut-down motor, speed cap, and more. They accomplished these built-in features through the company’s proprietary Internet Of Things technology.
16. VeoRide is a leader in the micromobility industry
VeoRide has emerged as a leader in the short-distance ride industry, also known as micromobility. The company is making advances in technology with its services and helping to reduce the traffic congestion that is problematic in larger cities. The electric vehicles in its fleet are smaller and take up less space on the roads and in parking lots. It’s a problem solver that is welcome in urban areas and VeoRide is now operational in some densely populated urban areas where foot and bike traffic are safe and accommodated by the infrastructure. VeoRide may change the way that people who live in the city commute to work and school soon. In this manner, it is poised to become a disruptor in the transportation industry that positively impacts the lives of the average commuter.
17. VeoRide is expanding its workforce
According to LinkedIn, VeoRide currently employs a workforce of 80 employees. We were interested in learning if the company is currently hiring. When we checked on the job postings we were pleasantly surprised to discover that VeoRide has posted an additional 134 job openings with the company. If all of the positions are filled it will triple the current size of the startup’s workforce. It’s always a good sign when this kind of growth takes place. VeoRide is known for its slow and steady progress, so it’s safe to assume that they’re doing so well financially that they have ample room for growth without distressing the budget.
18. VeoRide is extending its presence throughout the United States
The new jobs listed for VeoRide are in a variety of different cities throughout the United States. This tells us that the company is expanding its presence into new territories. We noted announcements for more workers at its home base in Chicago, Illinois, with expansions into Miami, Florida, College Station, Texas, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Toledo, Ohio, Santa Monica, California, Birmingham, Alabama, Charlottesville, Virginia, College Park, Maryland, Austin, Texas, New Rochelle, New York, and multiple other cities throughout the country. This is an exciting time in the history of VeoRide and it marks a new chapter in its growth and development. We even saw job openings in Seattle, Washington, and in cities in Michigan. It’s taking the country by storm.
19. VeoRide is welcome in New York City
New York City was one of the last holdouts with a ban on the use of e-scooters and similar forms of traffic. According to The Verge, the city decided to lift its ban on electric throttle powered vehicles to make more room in the streets. VeoRide and two of its competitors are now legally operating their businesses in the city with its dense populations and need for alternative transportation, in a pilot program.
20. VeoRide is now accepting venture capital funding
Candice Xie was reluctant to accept any type of funding other than the $20,000 award they received from the Purdue Foundry Project. After three years of going it on their own, she and her partner have agreed to an undisclosed amount of investor funding, according to Chicago Inno. VeoRide is playing their cards close to the vest. They did confirm that they enter into the second round of fundraising, which they’re keeping private.
