If you've been to London recently, you may have noticed packs of darkness Green and brown e-bikes line the city streetsth. They're owned by Forest, an aptly named startup that claims to be London's cheapest and most sustainable shared e-bike provider.
The success is based on an advertising model that is unique in the world of micromobility.
Forest's main competitors in the capital are Lime and Tier. All three e-bike sharing systems work largely in the same way.
You open an app, find an e-bike near you, scan a QR code and pedal. Typically you pay an unlock fee and then a per minute fee thereafter.
But Forest is a little different from the other two. Firstly, it offers 10 minutes free on all journeys. While this may initially seem like a temporary tactic to gain market share, the company has maintained this feature since its launch in 2021.
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After 10 minutes, yoYou will be charged a fee £0.29 (€0.34) a minute. This is comparable to the per-minute price of their competitors.
My TNW reporter colleague Thomas Macaulay recently took a 21-minute ride through central London on a Forest e-bike. This is about the average duration a bike rental in the capital.
Here is a summary of Thomas' trip:
Thomas's travel expenses £4.19, including a £1 activation fee. For comparison, Lime costs £6.09 over the same distance.
“We want to lower the barrier to micromobility,” Forest co-founder Michael Stewart tells TNW. “It’s just too expensive at the moment.”
Benefit from advertising revenue
Forest manages to undercut the competition by allowing brands to advertise on its app.
Ads appear in the app at the beginning and end of the trip. Users can even watch videos to earn free trips. If you a. see With a 30-second video you get a free minute that you can redeem on your next trip.
According to Stewart, Forest is the only micromobility startup in the world that uses advertising to subsidize the cost of its rides. The ads typically focus on sustainability-related products and brands.
Today, Forest also announced that it has partnered with British startup Ecoswap to create a digital gift card.
“We designed the gift card so that you can easily give free rides to your friends,” Antony Gutsa, founder of Ecoswap, tells us.
You can at least load £5 on the card (for 60 minutes journey) and a maximum of £40 (for 1200 minutes).
Like its competitors, Forest also offers a subscription. For £60 a month you get 1,800 minutes – or 60 minutes a day. Interestingly, you can access this subscription at a discounted price as part of London Cycling to work.
Greener rides
Forest's e-bikes and the electric vans that operate them are all charged with renewable energy, it says.
The startup offsets its upstream emissions (created during the manufacturing of the bikes themselves) by supporting a project that grows GiAnt sequoias in the British countryside.
Forest describes itself as London's most sustainable shared e-bike operator. Photo credit: Forest
To avoid hordes of e-bikes blocking sidewalks and sidewalks, Forest is also incentivizing riders to end their rides in parking zones spread across London. They also employ Teams of “Guardians” They patrol the street to identify problems and move bikes if there are complaints.
“London is one of the most expensive cities in the world for public transport, so cheaper options are always interesting,” says Thomas.
“E-bikes are a particularly attractive alternative for me because the nearest subway station is just a short walk away. They’re a great option for short trips – as long as parking is convenient.”
The e-bike itself is a classic entry-level model with an integrated basket, smartphone holder and adjustable seat post.
“The bike ride was pretty easy and felt safe,” says Thomas. “The acceleration was pretty slow, but that's probably a good thing. I managed to reach 27 km/h for a short time, but generally the speed seemed to stay at 25 km/h.”
“The stand was a bit fiddly at first and the basket rattled a bit, but the seat was easy to adjust and the brakes worked well.
“However, the parking zones were a bit far away, at least in my area. That's a disadvantage.”
Forest currently has approx 10,000 bikes and half a million users in London, the only city where the company currently operates. The startup has raised a total of £17 million so far.
Santander, the public bike system in London, offers shared e-bikes that are significantly cheaper than Forest, but are government subsidized and docked, so we've excluded them from this comparison.
