Grin

Grin, a micro-mobility company established in 2018, pioneered the shared electric scooter market in Latin America. The venture was founded by Sergio Romo, Jonathan Lewy, Bryan Zambrano, and Karime German Jalil. The concept originated from co-founder Sergio Romo's personal experience navigating Mexico City's traffic with an electric scooter he had imported. Recognizing the practical challenges of individual ownership, Romo and co-founder Jonathan Lewy saw an opportunity for a shared network, drawing inspiration from similar models in the United States. Grin launched its operations in April 2018 with a small fleet of 15 scooters in Mexico City.

The company's business model revolves around a mobile application that allows users to locate, unlock via QR code, and rent electric scooters for short-distance urban travel. This provides an alternative for trips that are too long to walk but too short to justify a car ride. To manage its fleet, Grin established "Grin Zones" for parking and charging and partnered with local businesses to store and charge scooters overnight. The primary revenue stream is generated from rental fees charged to users for the time they use the scooters. Facing challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company adapted by offering a monthly rental service for individual scooters.

Grin experienced rapid growth and significant investor interest, participating in the Y Combinator accelerator program in the spring of 2018. It secured a total of $72.7 million in funding over three rounds, including a notable $45.7 million Series A in October 2018. Key investors included Y Combinator, 500 Global, Trinity Ventures, and Shasta Ventures. In a strategic move to consolidate its market position, Grin merged with Brazilian e-scooter company Ride in late 2018. This was followed by a major merger with Brazilian bike-sharing startup Yellow in January 2019, creating a new entity called Grow Mobility. The newly formed Grow Mobility raised an additional $150 million to expand its combined fleet of over 100,000 scooters and 35,000 bikes across Latin America. Grow Mobility later merged with the payments app Flinto to integrate mobile payment options for unbanked users.

Keywords: Grin, Grow Mobility, micro-mobility, electric scooters, Latin America, last-mile transportation, scooter sharing, urban mobility, Y Combinator, Sergio Romo, Jonathan Lewy, mobility as a service, shared mobility, app-based rentals, startup, venture capital, Mexico City, Yellow, Ride, Flinto