Voi purchased Voi.com prior to $115 million funding round
Scooter firm upgrades its domain, which will allow it to expand beyond scooters.
Micro-mobility may be a fresh term to you, but it describes a multi-billion dollar industry.
Firms such as Bird, Lime, and Tier have created electric scooter and bike networks in cities, offering a cheap and environmentally-friendly alternative to taxis or traditional public transport.
The micro-mobility market is expected to be worth between $200-$300 billion by 2030, spurred on by an increase in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, where commuters have opted for single-rider, open-air transport.
The aforementioned trio of Bird, Lime, and Tier, have raised a combined $2.87 billion in funding to date, with Tier right now valued at $2 billion.
Swedish startup Voi has joined the ranks of micro-mobility firms that have attracted vast amounts of money from venture capitalists.
Just ahead of Christmas, Voi disclosed that it successfully closed a $115 million Series D funding round, bringing its total funding to $515.6 million.
Founded in 2018, Voi has used its wealth to expand services across multiple European countries.
Aside from its infrastructure spending, Voi also spent money on a domain name.
When it comes to domains, it’s fair to say that micro-mobility firms often disregard the necessity for a premium name.
For whatever reason, firms have shunned valuable .com domains. Bird operates on Bird.co, Lime uses Li.me, and Tier can be found at Tier.app.
Voi has broken the mold by acquiring Voi.com.
The firm began life on VoiApp.io ahead of switching to VoiScooters.com. In September 2021, Voi became the registrant of Voi.com, as stated by Whois history.
Prior to this, Voi.com was operated for a couple of years by another startup named Voi, a behavioral health technology firm founded in 2013. It still exists today, but it operates on Voi.health instead.
For the micro-mobility firm Voi, existing on VoiScooters.com is limiting for the firm. In the same way that Grab upgraded from GrabTaxi.com to Grab.com, Voi.com offers Voi more versatility when rolling out fresh products.
While it concentrates on scooter hiring, Voi may pivot or expand its operation, which would lead VoiScooters.com to become a confusing or obsolete domain.
Another consideration is the language barrier. Voi operates in multiple countries across Europe, with multiple languages.
Voi’s website translates into nine different languages, so choosing a domain name for a multinational audience containing an inherently English word may cause issues. Dropping “scooters” from its domain name will simplify things immensely.
