Wrap of the year 2021 – onwards at full speed
As the micromobility sector is growing faster than ever, the importance of vehicle connectivity is increasing with it. Thus, this passing year Comodule had a rapid growth spurt. We achieved many mentionable goals: scaled the production of all our modules and successfully overcame the global supply chain issues thanks to our in-house supply team. In addition, we added new features to our White Label App and most importantly, we nearly doubled our team to deliver the best possible connectivity and mobility solutions. But let’s all have a closer look together, as we’ve got the key takeaways of 2021 nicely wrapped up for you.
Industry overview and what to expect in 2022
Micromobility growing in popularity. An increasing number of people are aware of the impact of micromobility on emissions reduction and thus embrace micromobility as a way of life. Almost 70% of the respondents in the latest McKinsey survey stated that they are willing to use micromobility vehicles for their commute. It’s up to micromobility companies to act on the shift in mindset toward e-bikes and scooters.
Digging deeper into the cycling industry, bike sales are up 65% in the last 12 months, but it’s clear to see that e-bikes are the star of the show - e-bike sales grew by 240%, making them more popular than road bikes. The growing numbers in preference and sales are clear indicators that the micromobility industry is poised for long-term health.
New vehicles types emerging. Would you have imagined that a cargo bike is “the new black” in cycling? Then again…why not? According to BBC News, the rising demand for green transport and the technological advances in e-bikes are widely seen as two crucial factors driving the trend. Cargo bike manufacturers also report that last year 92% of their models sold were electric. In Germany, which is the largest European market for cargo bikes, there were 103 000 vehicles sold in 2020, ranking ahead of Denmark (25 000) and Netherlands (16 000). The micromobility sector is constantly creating new, emission-free ways to commute and we’re looking forward to the vehicle developments in 2022.
IoT becoming a commodity. The importance of IoT is growing, as it’s becoming a commodity. Connectivity allows to expand and develop new business models. While connectivity has an important role in the shared vehicle business, we now see e-bike brands harnessing the benefits of connectivity, resulting in more and more connected end-consumer bikes.
The current market situation can be divided into phases:
Phase 1: Innovators like VanMoof and Cowboy establish IoT on a large scale with a value proposition beyond an antitheft device. These companies value IoT, because of its possibilities to develop a totally new kind of vehicle.
Phase 2: Following their example, early adopters come along with a clear IoT roadmap
Phase 3: The tech giant Bosch is launching IoT and will make it a commodity for established bike manufacturers.
Comodule had a growth spurt
A bigger team. In a year, we nearly doubled the size of our team. There are 119 Comodulers now and we keep growing, if you are interested in joining us, check out our careers page. We opened a 2nd office in Tallinn near our factory and our German team moved to a bigger office space in Nuremberg. To keep the team energized, we consumed 250 kg of coffee and juiced 900 kg of oranges.
Giving back to society. Comodule is sponsoring the Student Formula team of Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech). Student Formula is very close to our hearts as quite a few Comodulers have been a part of it. This year we also started an annual scholarship for TalTech engineering students. The scholarship is set up to commemorate Comodule’s engineer Sander Paas.
Keeping the team spirits up. In total, we had 9 team events in 2021. One of the most memorable experiences was axe throwing, definitely the first time for most of us. We also had our annual Comodule Hacakton and we came together for strategy days. We had a lot of fun this year - regular game nights, sauna Thursdays, and the bravest of us started a winter swimming tradition.
We also participated in Robotex, the biggest robotics event in the world. Our engineers helped design the competition tracks for the event and we met a lot of potential future Comodulers there.
Environmental-friendly company of the year! One of the proudest moments of the year was that Comodule was recognized as the Environmental-Friendly Company of the Year by the Estonian Ministry of the Environment. We promise to keep finding ways how to be even more sustainable.
Kept empowering emissionless transport
Nearly half a million vehicles connected. In a year we connected around 150 000 e-bikes and scooters, which means that in total Comodule has so far connected 450 000 vehicles in more than 45 countries. This is what we call making an impact. On average 200 telemetry messages per second are being sent within our connectivity eco-system, ranging from positional GPS signals to battery level indicators.
We started production of our newest IoT unit, Bonnie & Clyde, the powerful IoT module designed for mid-drive e-bikes. What’s next? Stay tuned - we have new products launching in 2022.
Improved our software products. Comodule’s White Label App (WLA) took a big leap forward. There’s now a bigger team dedicated to app development - to give our users peace of mind. Across the year, we had 27 000 monthly active users and a total of 114 000 users have used the app in 2021.
Together with FAZUA, we launched in-app insurance so e-bike owners can protect their bikes against theft, damage, or both. We built several integrations with 3rd party devices: you can now connect SKS tyre pressure sensors with the app and set your preferred cadence for enviolo automatic gear changer.
As a new feature, the app supports complex vehicle settings. This means that with one firmware we can support e-bikes with multiple configurations, for example, the app will show different assist levels for bikes that are in different regions.
Less virtual, more real-time events. We hosted a few webinars but mostly returned to physical events. At the beginning of the year, we held a webinar together with CAKE and later discussed the benefits of Owning vs Sharing models. It was great to meet in person the lovely people from the micromobility industry at Eurobike, Micromobility America and MOVE.
Increased the production of our electric scooter
Co-Scooter is saving emissions. Our rockstar scooter, which we manufacture in Tallinn, is now used by three fleets across Europe: in Norway, Oslo; Amalfi Coast, Italy, and Tallinn, Estonia. In total, the scooters have traveled more than 2,1 million km. This resulted in 462 000 kg CO2 saved if the same distance would have been traveled by car.
If you’re interested in testing Co-Scooters for your business or need some tips on how to run your fleet more effectively, reach out to our sharing business expert Rivo.
Grew our Tuul fleet. Comodule’s test fleet Tuul is doing great. As a new feature, Tuul launched monthly and 24h passes, making it even more comfortable to use the service. According to our survey, a whopping 84% of e-scooter riders prefer Tuul to any other scooters available, showing that Tuul has a bright future ahead.
