| Skip | |
| Former Name: | Waybots, Inc. |
| Company Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Scooter sharing |
| Location: | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Founders: | Matt Tran, Mike Wadhera, Sanjay Dastoor |
| Areas Served: | Washington, D.C., Austin, TX, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, Arlington, VA, Alexandria, VA |
Skip (est. in 2017) was a San Francisco-based company which provided a scooter-sharing system in several American cities. The company was founded by Matt Tran, Mike Wadhera, and Sanjay Dastoor during Y Combinator's winter 2018 class.[1] Skip differentiated itself from competitors by making sturdier scooters with larger batteries, offering instructional classes, and working with cities before rolling out.[2] It was acquired by Helbiz in 2020 and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2021.[3] [4]
Skip was founded as Waybots in winter 2017 by the creators of Boosted Board, as higher-end competitor to other scooter-sharing systems.[5]
In May 2018, Skip raised a $6M seed round of funding. In June 2018, the company raised an additional $25M in its Series A round.[6]
In December, 2020, Skip was acquired by competitor Helbiz.[7] [8]
In February 2018, then Waybots launched in its first city, Washington, D.C., as part of a pilot program.[9]
At the end of August 2018, the city of San Francisco gave Skip and Scoot permission to operate dockless scooters in the city.[10] In an email sent out October 15, 2019 to its members, Skip announced that their scooters "will no longer be rentable as part of SFMTA’s Powered Scooter Share Program for 2019-2020" effective immediately, because the scooter batteries had a tendency to catch on fire. Skip has reportedly requested an appeal of SFMTA's decision, in order to continue operations in San Francisco.[11]
Between June and July 2019, Skip launched in San Diego, CA and Austin, TX.[12] [13]
The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (dissolution) in 2021.[14]