17.08.2022 | News
Road transport is the second largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and fine particulate matter, and the largest source of NOx in Europe1. To tackle that, Donkey Republic offers bike-sharing solutions that enable and encourage the replacement of private cars and other fossil fuel vehicles in urban environments.
Nefco, the Nordic Green Bank, has signed a loan agreement with Donkey Republic, a Danish company specialised in bike-sharing services. Donkey Republic provides regular bicycles and e-bikes for rental on-demand through its own subsidiaries and franchise agreements with local partners. Its bike-sharing services are already available in more than 60 cities, and the company is now looking to further expand its operations in Europe.
The availability of shared micro-mobility enables the transition away from fossil fuel vehicles. Easy availability and affordable usage are important factors.
“Our mission is to make cities more liveable by offering them and their citizens a convenient, affordable and sustainable bike sharing service,” says Erdem Ovacik, CEO at Donkey Republic. “In addition to the enormous environmental gains, cycling brings substantial health benefits thanks to the physical activity it offers.”
By replacing fossil fuel modes of transport, bike sharing reduces GHG emissions. The investment Nefco is now financing is expected to reduce emissions by up to 150 tonnes of CO2e annually. Based on an assessment by Nefco, the activity complies with the eligibility criteria ‘climate change mitigation’ of the EU Taxonomy. E-bikes have a larger emission factor than regular bikes and to minimise this, Donkey Republic has a life cycle approach to its e-bikes of repairing batteries instead of replacing them, whenever possible.
Financing of EUR 5 million from Nefco will primarily cover the renewal and expansion of Donkey Republic’s bike fleet across Europe.
“This type of business requires large upfront investments. Nefco wants to promote zero-emission modes of transportation and sees long-term potential in Donkey Republic’s solution and growth prospects. As a high-risk debt financier, we are ready to finance this stage to help the company grow and later attract additional lenders,” commented Søren Berg Rasmussen, Investment Manager at Nefco.
1) Source: European Environment Agency
For further information, please contact:
Søren Berg Rasmussen, Investment Manager, Nefco
soren.rasmussen@nefco.int, +358 10 618 0674
Erdem Ovacik, CEO, DonkeyRepublic Holding A/S
erdem@donkeyrepublic.com, +45 26 37 29 96
About Donkey Republic
Donkey Republic is one of Europe’s leading providers of end-to-end bike-sharing solutions, both pedal and e-bikes. The company is expanding across Europe with more than 13,000 bikes and e-bikes in 24 cities as a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) provider as well as licencing its platform as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to partners operating 3,200 bikes across 60+ cities. Based on its proprietary software, Donkey Republic offers cities and local partners a fully integrated turnkey solution, including software critical to all stakeholders, bikes, operations and support services. The company provides affordable and sustainable mobility for the masses by partnering with cities to turn bikes into the hero of urban transportation and has a vision to make city life better for everyone with affordable and responsible bike sharing. Read more: www.donkey.bike
About Nefco
Nefco is an international financial institution, the Nordic Green Bank, that finances the initial scale-up of Nordic green solutions on global markets. Founded in 1990 by the five Nordic countries, Nefco has already financed and implemented over 1,500 projects in energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean water and sanitation, waste management and cleaner industrial processes, among others. To date, more than 600 Nordic growth companies have received financing from Nefco to scale up their green technologies and solutions on global markets. We serve the interests of our owners, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and work with concrete actions to accelerate the green transition aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement, the EU Green Deal and the Nordic Vision 2030. Read more about us on www.nefco.int