Ford Buys Spin Electric Scooter Startup

Ford Motor Co. has agreed to buy Spin, a San Francisco-based electric scooter startup for an undisclosed price.

The deal is worth somewhere between $40 million and nearly $100 million, according to online news service Axios Media Inc., which first reported the sale. Spin had raised a modest $8 million in funding before the Ford purchase, according to Bloomberg News.

Spin is the operating name of Skinny Labs Inc. The business provides communities with dockless electric scooter-sharing service for so-called first- and last-mile personal transportation. The company currently operates in 13 U.S. cities and college campuses. Ford says its Ford X startup unit aims to expand Spin service in 18 months to more than 100 locations in North America.

The e-scooters, which are activated via a smartphone app, cost $1 per 30 minutes of operation. Charges are deducted from a user’s pre-balance, initially set at $5. Members also can opt to pay $29 per month or $99 per year for unlimited rides.

Ford helped launch its own test of e-scooters last month through a research project with Purdue University in Lafayette, Ind. The test has deployed 40 “Jelly” e-scooters on the campus to evaluate design and fleet management, gather usage data and develop rules for responsible riding and parking.