E-scooter company Ginger has secured £500,000 of investment to fuel its expansion across Tees Valley.
The business launched its first trials of its e-scooter rental service in Teesside back in July, after campaigning with Mayor Ben Houchen.
The trial has since been rolled out across Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Redcar, and will soon be coming to Stockton and Darlington in the next few months.
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Ginger has now received £500,000 of investment that will allow it to set up a base in Hartlepool, creating 12 new jobs and safeguarding a further 10.
The company will also use the funding to continue to grow its in-house customer care centre, which will support its existing e-scooter network while allowing the firm to expand into new cities.
The £500,000 in investment was secured from FW Capital Debt finance, which is managed by FW Capital, and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).
Paul Hodgins, Ginger CEO, said: “The introduction of e-scooters into the 海角视频 has accelerated significantly by the need to provide people with a means of socially distant transport during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the added bonus of them being eco-friendly.
“We are delighted to set up our base here in Tees Valley, the area which first led the way in adopting this revolutionary new mode of transport. We are grateful to NPIF and FW Capital for their support in making this a reality.”
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Alexandra Gent, investment executive at FW Capital, said: “Working with the team at Ginger has been a real pleasure. They have achieved so much in such a short time and I cannot wait to see the company continue to grow and evolve.
“As e-scooters become a more prominent feature in the 海角视频 transport landscape, I am pleased to have been able to work with a company that is so passionate about integrating them safely and responsibly into our lives.
“The fact that Ginger has sought to establish a base in Hartlepool is a reflection of the collaborative business networks in place in the region and will provide great opportunities for expansion and employment in the future.”
Since launching in the region more than 63,000 miles in journeys have been made around Teesside using the scooters. The initiative has been designed to provide eco-friendly transport to people across the region.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “Since launching in the Tees Valley earlier this year, e-scooters have proved to be an extremely popular, clean, alternative form of transport, and the data shows we have a large proportion of people using them regularly for commuting.
“Ginger have been a fantastic company to work with and I am delighted they are setting up a new base in Hartlepool, creating local jobs for local people, which is more important than ever before as we continue to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having on businesses.
“This e-scooter trial is another example of the way we’re doing things differently across the region putting innovation at the heart of everything we do, and having this centre in Hartlepool shows once again it is the Tees Valley that is leading the way.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is provides businesses with a mix of debt and equity finance worth between £25,000 and £2m. It is supported by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.