Free smart bike and scooter parking at ICA Maxi in Örebro

In spring 2021 every ICA Maxi supermarket in Örebro started offering its customers free, theft-proof smart bike parking, and docks for e-scooters too. The stations came from One4Tech, Bikeep's Swedish partner, a young company founded by four friends from Örebro's Vivalla district.

A big problem for cyclists

Bike theft is one of the most common crimes in Sweden. In 2020 more than 77,200 bikes were reported stolen across the country, 9,600 of them e-bikes, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). In Örebro municipality alone, 2,759 bike thefts were reported. One4Tech set out to give the community a real answer to that problem.

How the docks work

• Frame and wheel locked. The dock locks both the frame and a wheel, which makes the bike much harder to steal.
• App or travel card. Riders unlock with the Bikeep app or their Länstrafiken travel card.
• Alarm. A built-in alarm goes off if someone tries to steal a bike, and the owner gets a message.
• Scooters too. Separate scooter docks let people lock their own e-scooters while they shop.
• Free to use. Parking costs nothing.

Started in Vivalla

One4Tech was founded by Ali Taleb together with Ade Farah, Mohamed Ali and Ali Al-Zaydi, who all grew up in Vivalla. The name comes from the old number 14 bus that ran to Vivalla. Their first Bikeep stations went in during autumn 2020 at Vivalla centrum and at the office of housing company ÖrebroBostäder (ÖBO) on Fredsgatan, their first customer. The ICA Maxi stores followed, and the founders talked with more property owners with the aim of spreading secure parking across Sweden.

For the founders, it was about more than bikes. Ali Taleb told local paper Örebroar'n they wanted to show the next generation in Vivalla that it is possible to succeed.

SVT also told the founders' story in Swedish. More on bike parking for shops is on the retail page.