Beam scores funding to bring e-scooters to Singapore

(Oct 24): Singapore’s sidewalks are about to get a lot more crowded. Beam, co-founded by the former Asian chief for Chinese bike-sharing giant Ofo, has raised US$6.4 million ($8.8 million) from investors including Sequoia India to deploy its electric scooters around the island nation.

Beam just closed a seed funding round led by Sequoia India, Founders Fund, ZhenFund and Class 5 Global, Beam said in a statement. Its other backers include Arbor, Insignia, 500 Startups, Gobi and K2 Global. The financing will help bankroll a fleet of e-scooters manufactured by Segway Ninebot, backed by smartphone maker Xiaomi.

The announcement comes the same day Stockholm-based Northzone Ventures -- an early investor in Spotify and iZettle -- announced it had led an investment of 25 million euros ($39.6 million) into Berlin’s Tier Mobility, which already has scooters on the streets of Vienna.

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