Uber’s come a long way since its humble beginning as a black car service. Now Uber is getting into all kinds of projects, including Uber Eats, Uber Air, Health, Freight and more. However, out of all of these projects, the one I’m most interested in is micro-mobility, like e-scooters, e-bikes and more. Today, I’m talking to someone heavily involved in the micromobility sphere. We’ll cover everything from Uber’s entrance into micromobility, the opportunities in this area, and more.
Intro
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Today I’m talking with Dmitry Shevelenko, the co-founder and president of Tortoise, a new company helping micro-mobility operators
- Before founding Tortoise, Dmitry worked for Uber – specifically Uber’s mobility efforts like Jump bikes and more
- We’ll be talking about Dmitry’s perspective on the industry, investment decisions and more
- We’ll also be talking about his new company, Tortoise, which combines AI and teleops to help scooter fleets reposition, rebalance and recharge
- Our podcast sponsor is Zum – Zum is a rideshare service for kids. Drivers can earn up to $32/hr and many make $750 a week. Check out Zum here!
Intro to Dmitry Shevelenko
- Dmitry Shevelenko is cofounder and president of Tortoise, a new startup helping micromobility operators automate the repositioning of their vehicles
- Before founding Tortoise, Dmitry was an advisor to leading mobility and future of work startups, and he also had a 4 year stint at Uber working as the Director of Business Development
- He initiated many of the company’s new mobility efforts, including the Jump partnership and acquisition and Uber Transit
- Focused on the whole package of Uber and mobility: rideshare, transit, micromobility and short term car rentals
Decision to Leave Uber
- Variety of factors, but began to see the trend was in short trips – doesn’t exactly make sense to use a car for all of these short, less profitable trips
- Perfect fit for micromobility options
- Opportunity in a burgeoning industry, lots of investment and he had an interest in the topic
Understanding Micromobility
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Utilization rate of scooters
- Additional cost of scooters, cost of scooters and Juicers/Chargers, etc
- Uber and Lyft introduced predictability and reliability not only in the rideshare space, but also in the micromobility space
Startup Company: Tortoise
- High and low end of building scooters
- Not a hardware company – provide designs, etc.
- Operators pay per subscription to have access to software and more
- Teleops is a game changer
Micromobility in Action
- First market will be suburbs, college campus
- Less dense areas actually better – more dense areas like cities typically have enough micromobility options
- Outreach to communities that don’t have these opportunities
Outro
- Big thanks to Dmitry for coming on the podcast – excited to talk to him about his experiences at Uber, his perspective on micromobility and his company, Tortoise
- Excited to have more people on the podcast to talk about micromobility!
- Our podcast sponsor is Zum – Zum is a rideshare service for kids. Drivers can earn up to $32/hr and many make $750 a week. Check out Zum here!
Show Notes
- Zum
- Smart City Atlanta Expo
- @TortoiseHQ on Twitter
If you’d like to read a transcript of this podcast, please click here.
