Grow Mobility

About Grow Mobility

Grow Mobility emerged in January 2019 as a holding company for micromobility and payments, resulting from the merger of two prominent Latin American startups: Grin, a Mexican electric scooter pioneer, and Yellow, a Brazilian dockless bike-sharing and e-scooter service. This strategic consolidation created one of the largest micromobility operators in Latin America, with a combined fleet of over 135,000 vehicles across six countries at its inception.

Grin was founded in 2018 by Sergio Romo, Jonathan Lewy, Bryan Zambrano, and Karime German. The concept for Grin arose from Romo's and Lewy's personal frustrations with Mexico City's traffic, leading them to envision a shared electric scooter network. Yellow was established in Brazil by Ariel Lambrecht and Renato Freitas, both co-founders of the successful ride-hailing app 99, along with Eduardo Musa, the former CEO of bicycle manufacturer Caloi. The founders of both companies brought extensive experience in mobility and technology to the venture.

Grow Mobility aimed to solve the first- and last-mile transportation problem in congested Latin American cities. Its business model was centered on a mobile application that allowed users to locate, unlock, and pay for short-term rentals of electric scooters and bikes. To broaden its user base, particularly among the unbanked population, Grow Mobility merged with Flinto, a Mexican digital payments startup, in June 2019. This integration was designed to create a digital wallet within the Grow app, enabling cash deposits and peer-to-peer payments.

The company's services were targeted at urban commuters seeking alternatives to cars and public transit for short journeys. Revenue was generated on a pay-per-ride basis. Following the merger, Grow Mobility secured an additional $150 million in funding to fuel its expansion plans across Latin America. However, the company faced significant operational challenges, including vandalism and restructuring, which led to a withdrawal from 14 Brazilian cities in early 2020. Ultimately, amidst growing competition and operational pressures, Grow Mobility was acquired in March 2020.