E-Bike Rental Wheels Lays Off Staff To Develop Its Enterprise Model
Los Angeles’ rental e-vehicle startup, Wheels, is about to lay off 6% of its staff, a leading publishing firm learned. In the hunt for finding a profitable business model, this young micromobility startup has put forward this step of shedding its staff.
In early 2019, Wheels was founded by Chris Stavlas and Viner brothers- Jonathan and Joshua, who earlier also created a dog-walking app named Wag. Wheels is a dockless revolutionizing mobility startup which is designed as a hybrid e-vehicles that looks like a combination of motorcycle and scooter that have a seat, no pedals, small but thick wheels with a particular body.
It has swappable parts, real-time dynamic maintenance, built-in Bluetooth speakers, batteries as well as a phone charging point, which enables users to get an affordable, comfortable and fun bike to roam around the city through the connectivity of a smartphone.
Wheels provide its service in cities like Dallas, Tallahassee, San Diego, Orlando, Chicago, Austin, Scottsdale, Miami, Cleveland, Texas A&M, Salt Lake Metropolis, Stockholm and Sweden as well. On the other hand, the companies spokesperson mentioned that lately, they are in a plan of spreading its services at a rapid growth in the US.
Recently, DBL Companions, early-stage investors of Tesla, had invested $50 million in Wheels that makes its total funding nearly $100 million till date. Although, Wheels is not that financially stable alike other scooters and bike companies to take a ride in the dockless bike and scooter market. Besides, Wheel’s spokesperson recently informed in the mail to all its employees that among 300+ headcounts of the firm, there will be a lay-off of almost 6% or nearly 20 employees shortly. According to the sources, the startup will also be shutting down its operation in 3 cities: Salt Lake Metropolis, Cleveland, and Chicago.
In recent time, the micro-mobility sector’s leading operators like Uber, Lyft, Lime, and Bird has introduced lay-offs concept after they laid-off their employees. This seems like its been a difficult time for the e-scooter trade, although it’s unclear when they will see the light.
