Spin is launching electric scooters in Germany this spring – TechCrunch

Spin, the electric scooter company owned by Ford, is gearing up to launch its vehicles for the first time outside of the U.S. This spring, the plan is to launch in Cologne, Germany, followed by other German cities.

Spin also plans to apply for the e-scooter permit in France next month, as well as explore opportunities in the U.K. for electric scooter sharing.

In the last year or so, Germany has become a major hotspot for micromobility. As of December 2019, there were seven startups operating across 37 cities in the country. In Cologne, Spin will find itself competing against the likes of Bird, Lime and Circ.

Spin’s current fleet relies on Segway’s scooter designed for the sharing economy, but it plans to deploy its first custom vehicle sometime this year.

Spin, which got its start as a bike-share startup, sold to Ford in November 2018 in a deal worth about $100 million. Prior to the deal, Spin had raised just $8 million in outside capital.