“We believe that Uber and Careem are solving a gap of moving with a car for long distances, Swvl and Uber Bus are solving another gap, which is group commutes, and the missing piece of the puzzle, with all the enhancements that are happening with the public transport, is first and last mile transportation, which is exactly what Rabbit is targeting,” says Kamal ElSoueni, Co-founder & CEO of Rabbit.
Founded by ElSoueni and Mohamed Mansoury, Rabbit is a clean-tech platform for short distance transportation, allowing users to rent an electric scooter or an electric bike to travel short distances between one to three kilometers, with the average trip lasting from 12 to 13 minutes.
With a passion for working in the transportation sector in Egypt, ElSoueni and Mansoury saw an opportunity in the currently developing sector, especially with the introduction of informal bike lanes in multiple neighborhoods, and the widening of various streets.
“We thought of e-scooters and e-bikes because they’re easy, fast, and take you from point A to point B without any effort,” ElSoueni tells Egyptian Streets.
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Through its mobile application, Rabbit offers two models. The ‘Unlock & Go’ model allows users to locate the nearest available vehicle using the map, scan the QR code to unlock it, and kick-start the ride. The other option is the ‘Day Rentals’ model, where users can request a vehicle to rent for a minimum of two days, and up to 30 days, and have it delivered to their doorstep in less than 24 hours.
“Around 55 percent of users who use the ‘Day Rentals’ model are women,” ElSoueni adds enthusiastically, stressing that they all express their satisfaction with the rides during feedback calls.
“We have several female users who continued using the ‘Day Rentals’ for more than a hundred days, so they got to actually own the vehicle. We offer them a lease-to-own model, where they get to own the vehicle and we just help them with the maintenance,” ElSoueni explains.
Initially, the founders of Rabbit considered the traditional bike-sharing model, where bicycles are made available for public use on a short-term basis. After conducting research and focus groups, they came to the conclusion that users are more interested in e-scooters and e-bikes than in regular bikes for transportation. According to ElSoueni, regular bikes are great for sports or leisure, but people do not think of them as transportation methods.
Named Rabbit as it helps users “hop from point A to point B,” the app aims to expand their fleet to more neighborhoods and gated communities in Cairo in the next few months.
“Last year, we did more than 250,000 kilometres on our e-scooters and e-bikes,” says ElSoueni.
The ‘Unlock & Go’ model costs EGP 6 to unlock and then EGP 1 per minute for the e-scooter, and EGP 8 plus EGP 1.25 per minute for the e-bike.
“What we’ve seen from around 85 percent of our user base is that after the second ride, it becomes more of a purpose ride rather than just a joy ride or a fun experience. So when we do our second feedback call, we find out that they’re actually using it to go to the gym or the coffee shop or the mall,” highlights ElSoueni.
With a minimum age requirement of 16 years, this micro-mobility platform is currently working on launching e-mopeds by the final quarter of 2022.
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Day Rentals are currently available in Cairo, Giza and Sahel, while Unlock & Go is available in Zamalek, Sodic Real Estate, New Giza, Mivida, and Marassi. Download the app from here.
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