<article>WHILL Inc, the developer of intelligent personal electric vehicles, has closed a $45-million funding round to widen its international footprint.</article>

WHILL Inc, the developer of intelligent personal electric vehicles, has closed a $45-million funding round to widen its international footprint.
Japanese investors SBI Investment, Daiwa PI Partners, Daiwa Corporate Investment and WHIZ Partners, as well as New York-based Endeavor Catalyst led the investment, which has brought WHILL’s total funding to $80 million.
WHILL is headquartered in Yokohama with offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taiwan and Europe.
Repeat investors include Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, Eight Road Ventures, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, Nippon Venture Capital, DG Incubation and Mizuho Capital.
Having launched the more affordable version called Model Ci in the US in January 2018, WHILL has expanded sales into Canada, UK and Italy. The latest funding round will allow the company to increase its presence across other European countries.
“There is a huge opportunity and need to address current and future mobility and infrastructure challenges. Therefore, as we continue to build personal mobility devices they require, we will further accelerate the expansion of our business,” said Satoshi Sugie, co-founder and CEO of WHILL, adding that the firm is strengthening its “mobility as a service” programme.
Set up in 2010 in Japan, a country with a rapidly aging population, WHILL’s expansion is also fueled by the world’s population over the age of 60, which is projected to more than double to 2.1 billion by 2050.
To start with its MaaS business, WHILL is developing self-driving and self-stopping technologies, which provide more independence to passengers and reduces the workload of PRM (Passenger with Reduced Mobility) service agents in airports.
WHILL said, there were over 20 million passengers who requested wheelchair assistance at US airports in 2016 (a 4.1% CAGR from 2013). This number is expected to grow substantially as the population ages.
In the near future, WHILL is looking to further expand its MaaS business into device-sharing and last-mile transport solution.
Also read:
<a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/investor-frenzy-boosts-funding-in-mobility-startups-to-never-before-levels-91720/">Investor frenzy boosts funding in mobility startups to never-before levels</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/44245-44245/">Meet Whill, the Japanese startup with a mission to revolutionize the wheelchair</a>

WHILL Inc, the developer of intelligent personal electric vehicles, has closed a $45-million funding round to widen its international footprint.

Personal mobility startup WHILL snags $45m funding for market expansion

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