Moscow, April 7, 2021
Sistema SmartTech Fund, created by Sistema JSFC to support companies at an early stage of development, has invested 200 million rubles in Urent LLC, which develops one of the largest kicksharing services in Russia.

Established in 2018, Urent is developing an app of the same name for short-term and minute-by-minute rental of electric push scooters. Urent electric scooters are used for short-distance city trips: as a "last mile" transport (to get deep into the area or district, for example, from the metro station), and for entertainment – in parks and walking areas. Urent was the first among the players of the kicksharing market to integrate with the taxi ordering app. The company's electric scooters can be rented also through the Citymobil app.

Today Urent scooters are available in Moscow, the Moscow Region and in 19 other cities of Russia. Urent goes to new cities independently or with the involvement of local partners. The Urent fleet includes about 30,000 electric scooters. The company plans to use the funds raised for expansion of the fleet up to 60,000 scooters, geographic expansion both in Russia and abroad, and technological development of the platform.

“The global market of micromobility has great potential – it is expected that it will grow many times by 2025. In Russia this segment is also developing rapidly against the background of the interest of many regions in reducing the load on the environment and traffic. The segment was actively growing, considering the absence of a strict lockdown in the Russian Federation in the summer of 2020. The pandemic may also push the development of the segment in the future – against the background of the requirements for observing the social distance, scooters have become used as an affordable alternative to public transport. The new round of financing will enable Urent to scale significantly its business and test new niches, which will allow the company to become a leading player in this promising market.” - said the member of the investment committee of the fund Sistema SmartTech Artem Sirazutdinov.

“The mobility direction is growing and we are interested in it. The company is profitable, Urent is the second largest player in the micro-mobility market, effectively managing its fleet, with good prospects for further rapid scaling” - said the managing partner of the fund Sistema SmartTech Ksenia Shoygu.

“We believe that micro-mobility services are the transport of the future which all cities will come sooner or later to. It allows you to reduce the load on the transport system, and gives city residents the opportunity to quickly and comfortably move over short distances, whether it is trips within the district, through the city center or to the nearest public transport hub. Together with our partners from the Sistema SmartTech Fund, we will be able to significantly increase the number of electric scooters and make kicksharing truly affordable.” - said the founder of Urent Andrey Kolesnik.

Sistema SmartTech was established in 2020 to support high-potential companies at seed and early investment stages.
The fund focuses on innovative startupsin High Tech, including various digital products and services, transport, biotechnology and artificial intelligence. The Fund invests in Russian and foreign companies of various sectors of the economy without reference to specific industries. The Fund's priorities are: IT in medicine, education, logistics and transport, as well as trends and niches formed under the influence of COVID-19.