Scooter company upgrades its domain, which will allow it to expand beyond scooters.
Voi upgraded its domain, which will allow it to expand beyond scooter rental.
Micro-mobility may be a new term to you, but it describes a multi-billion dollar industry.
Companies 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 currently valued at $2 billion.
Swedish startup Voi has joined the ranks of micro-mobility companies that have attracted vast amounts of money from venture capitalists.
Just before Christmas, Voi announced 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 companies often disregard the necessity for a premium name.
For whatever reason, companies 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 company began life on VoiApp.io before switching to VoiScooters.com. In September 2021, Voi became the registrant of Voi.com, according to Whois history.
Prior to this, Voi.com was operated for a couple of years by another startup named Voi, a behavioral health technology company founded in 2013. It still exists today, but it operates on Voi.health instead.
For the micro-mobility company Voi, existing on VoiScooters.com is limiting for the company. In the same way that Grab upgraded from GrabTaxi.com to Grab.com, Voi.com offers Voi more versatility when rolling out new 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.
