Bikeep in the media in 2021: interviews, features and funding

2021 was the year micromobility went mainstream, and Bikeep was in the news more than ever. Here is the coverage from that year in one place, from interviews and opinion pieces to trade magazine features and a funding round.

January, Äripäev on the micromobility boom

In an opinion piece for the Estonian business daily Äripäev, CEO Kristjan Lind wrote about how micromobility shot up during the COVID crisis, and what the next few years would bring for bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters. Read it in Estonian.

January, Invest in Estonia on a busy year ahead

Invest in Estonia profiled Bikeep as bike use surged in 2020. By then Bikeep had delivered more than 350 docks. The feature pointed to New Zealand, where stations are free to use and paid for by advertising, and to Cupertino in California, where the public parks for free. Kristjan Lind also made the case for charging at work.

"When e-bike owners need to charge their bike, they expect to do it at their workplace." Kristjan Lind, CEO of Bikeep

Read the feature.

February, Äripäev Radio

Kristjan Lind joined Äripäev Radio to talk about how Bikeep makes its stations, how it markets them, and what it takes to build a hardware company. The episode ran under the headline "If I wanted to make a lot of money, I'd do something else". Listen in Estonian.

March, Landscape Architecture Magazine

The March issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine featured Bikeep's new e-scooter parking and charging station in its bikes and transit section.

April, Radio 4

Business development manager Aleksei Jeršovski spoke on Estonian public broadcaster ERR's Radio 4 about how Bikeep started, what micromobility means, and what the 2021 cycling season would bring. Listen in Russian.

May, Digi Geenius on the move to tech

Estonian tech site Digi Geenius covered Bikeep's shift towards technology, offering customers a full micromobility platform and not only hardware, and its plans to grow in new markets. Read it in Estonian.

June, new investors

Ärileht reported that Taavi Madiberk, founder of Skeleton Technologies, and Marko Virkebau, CFO of MeetFrank, had invested in Bikeep.

"Knowledge is more important and valuable to a start-up than money." Kristjan Lind, CEO of Bikeep

Read it in Estonian.

July, Kristjan Lind on 15-minute cities

In Ärileht, Kristjan Lind argued that 15-minute cities need streets and yards where people actually want to spend time, with walking and cycling at the centre.

"We need a supportive environment, not artificial bland yards where no one wants to spend time." Kristjan Lind, CEO of Bikeep

Read it in Estonian.

September, TaaS Magazine

Issue XII of TaaS Magazine looked at smart bike parking as part of the end-of-trip facilities commuters need. It quoted HUB Cycling's Erin O'Melinn on the TransLink bike lockers in Metro Vancouver.

September, TechCrunch on a $3 million round

TechCrunch's mobility newsletter The Station reported that Bikeep had closed a $3 million investment round, led by Marko Oolo, Kristjan Liivamägi and Paavo Siiman. Bikeep planned to use it to build a network of local partners and bring its stations to cities across the US, with TransLink's lockers as the example. Read The Station.

December, on the cover of Director

Kristjan Lind was on the cover of the December issue of Director magazine. He talked about why he does what he does, how the team doubled from 13 to 26 people in a year, and how he sees cities changing. Director is published in Estonian.

December, Invest in Estonia on greener cities

In a second Invest in Estonia feature, Kristjan Lind pointed out that most trips in a city are short enough to cycle, and that bike facilities should be paid for by the buildings, campuses and companies that need them, not by cyclists.

"Distances travelled within the city are under 8 kilometres, which you don't actually need a car for." Kristjan Lind, CEO of Bikeep

Read the feature. The next year's coverage is in Bikeep in the media in 2022.