Whoosh

Whoosh is a scooter rental service founded in 2019 by current and former top managers of S7 Group: Deputy General Director of S7 Group for Innovation Dmitry Chuyko, ex-Deputy General Director for Technological Development of S7 Travel Retail Yegor Bayandin, President of City Sightseeing Russia, selling excursions Sergey Lavrentiev (previously responsible for corporate sales in S7) and ex-head of IT integrator S7 Oleg Zhuravlev. Starting investments amounted to $1 million, the founders invested their own money in the launch.

Performance indicators

2023

Revenue growth 1.7 times to 10.73 billion rubles

As a result of work in 2023, the Whoosh electric scooter rental service received revenue of 10.73 billion rubles, which is 1.7 times more than a year earlier (6.38 billion rubles). The company's net profit increased 2.3 times, from 830 million to 1.94 billion rubles. Such data are given in the reports on, IFRS published at the end of March 2024.

From the materials of PJSC VUSH Holding (kicksharing service operator Whoosh) it follows that by the end of 2023 the company's net debt reached 8.47 billion rubles, an increase of 141% on an annualized basis (from 3.51 billion rubles by the end of 2022). EBITDA for the year increased by 36%, to 4.45 billion rubles, and profitability for this indicator decreased to 42% from 51%. The net debt/EBITDA ratio for 2023 was 1.9x versus 1.1x for 2022.

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The financial director of Whoosh, Alexander Sinyavsky, whose words are quoted on the company's website, said that the service had acquired 44 thousand new means of individual mobility by the start of the new season (the launch took place at the end of March 2024), increasing the fleet by almost 30%. He noted that the company is ready to realize market opportunities for the growth of shareholder value of the business.

The market that has not yet been mastered is still colossal. We continue to occupy half of the Russian market and are actively developing foreign projects. To do this, including using a credit resource: for example, in 2023 they issued bonds worth 4 billion rubles with a coupon rate of 11.8% per annum. With rapid growth, we maintain a low level of debt, "he said.

According to Whoosh's own data, by the end of 2023, the service had 20 million registered users. Most of the company's revenues in 2023 (almost 10 billion rubles) came from sales of e-scooter rental services.^[1]

Travel growth of 87% to 103.9 million

In 2023, Whoosh users made about 103.9 million trips on electric scooters, up 87% from a year earlier. The service published such data on January 22, 2024.

It also follows from Whoosh materials that by the end of 2023, 20.4 million accounts were registered on the platform, which is 71% more than a year ago. The geography of the service's presence expanded to 55 cities against 40 locations a year ago.

Whoosh users made about 103.9m trips in a year

The average number of trips per active user in 2023 increased by 34% and reached 14.4 trips. The Whoosh electric scooter fleet grew by 83% on an annualized basis and amounted to 149.9 thousand means of individual mobility (SIM), the company's website says.

A stable increase in the number of trips - both general and on average per active user - along with an increase in the company's fleet suggests that the service is becoming more and more in demand among modern citizens. More and more people use micromobile transport in everyday life. At the same time, Whoosh continues to remain the market leader: about half of kicksharing trips in the Russian Federation take place at the company's SIM, "said Dmitry Chuyko, founder and CEO of Whoosh.

According to him, in addition to the general stable growth in the company's annual indicators compared to 2022, Whoosh notes an increase in travel for December 2023. During this month, Whoosh users made 46% more trips than in December 2022.

Whoosh's revenue for January-September 2023 amounted to 9.475 billion rubles - 66% more year-on-year. EBITDA reached 4.9 billion rubles. (+ 49%). Net debt decreased by 9% to 2.8 billion rubles.

Whoosh shares reacted with growth to the disclosure of the company's operating results for 2023. The company's maximum securities at the auction on January 22, 2024 rose in price by 3.1% to 239.8 rubles.^[2]

2022: Double the number of trips to 55.5m

Whoosh users made 55.5m trips in 2022, double the number a year earlier. At the same time, in 77% of cases, users chose this electric transport as an alternative to a personal car, taxi or public transport, according to a report that the company published on February 6, 2023.

It also says that the number of registered users of the Whoosh kicksharing service in Russia and the CIS countries has grown 2022 times over the 2 year and has reached 11.9 million accounts. The fleet of service scooters in Russia and the CIS at the end of 2022 amounted to 81.8 thousand units. The company also recalled that by February 2023, electric scooters purchased using funds raised during the IPO are being supplied, planning to increase the fleet by 55% to 127 thousand scooters in 2023.

Whoosh e-scooter rides double in a year

According to Whoosh's own data, the number of trips per active user increased in 2022 by 40% compared to 2021 and amounted to 10.8 trips. And the number of locations for the presence of the service in 2022 is 40 cities in Russia and the CIS against 25 a year earlier (an increase of 60%).

The past [2022] year has become one of the most saturated in the history of the Company's development. Whoosh demonstrated high stability and efficiency, and the flexible business model helped to successfully scale the service both within Russia and abroad, and achieve record results. Along with the growth of the audience of the service, the number of trips is also growing, - said the founder and CEO of Whoosh Dmitry Chuyko.

According to him, in 2023 the company's focus will be aimed at increasing the market share in the current cities of presence and expansion into new cities of Russia and the CIS countries, including locations with a long season of scooter operation ^[3]

History

2023

Entering the markets of Chile and Brazil

The Russian electric scooter rental service Whoosh has entered the markets of Chile and Brazil. The CEO of the company Dmitry Chuyko announced this in mid-June 2023.

Two months ago, together with partners, we launched a pilot project in Latin America. The service is already working in Chile and Brazil, we will continue to see how it will develop, "he said in a conversation with TASS (the publication was published on June 20, 2023).

According to him, Whoosh also operates in Kazakhstan and Belarus, but Russia is still the main market. The entry into the market of Chile and Brazil was not announced earlier, the service began working in pilot mode after exploring new markets.

We are still working as part of an experiment. The same experimental markets were once for us the markets of Kazakhstan and Belarus, which showed good demand and indicators for the service, - said the head of Whoosh.

Chuyko clarified that the Latin American market has its prospects in terms of competition, economy, for scooters it is year-round.

By June 2023, Whoosh operates in 50 locations in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The company's fleet is 133 thousand electric scooters and e-bicycles. Soon the service, as Chuyko said in June 2023, plans to launch e-bike rental in the center of Moscow and test a "small project in Kazakhstan." Whoosh is also considering launching e-bikes in several Russian cities.

We see that the market is large enough. This year we put an additional 40 thousand scooters. We are planning some more increase this year. I think, according to the results of this year, we will already make a specific decision on the next how many scooters we will buy. Of course, there will be an increase in how large-scale it will probably be decided closer to autumn [2023], Chuyko added.[4]

Localization of production of spare parts for electric scooters

On June 19, 2023, Whoosh announced the localization of the production of components for electric scooters in Russia. These parts have already begun to be used by the service.

As part of the project, together with local contractors, the company organized the production of rubber mats, flu and flu plugs, decorative overlays and other parts. These components are most often subject to replacement when operating scooters, the Whoosh press service said.

Whoosh announced the localization of the production of components for electric scooters

At the Whoosh fleet winter maintenance, the components were replaced in scooters for operation during the 2023 season. By June 19, 22023, from 30% to 90% of the fleet, depending on the region of Russia, are already in operation with new details. It is noted that in the near future, components will be used in the fleet of scooters in the CIS. Next season (in 2024), it is planned to update the fleet to 100% with those spare parts, the production of which is localized by Whoosh in Russia. The Whoosh park in Russia and the CIS by mid-June 2023 has about 133 thousand devices.

The company noted that the localization program frees up additional resources from the company, which, among other things, will be directed to strategically important initiatives for the development of technologies aimed at safety, as well as scaling educational projects, increasing knowledge of traffic rules among kicksharing users.

Whoosh CEO Dmitry Chuyko said that the project to localize production made it possible "to achieve a significant level of savings from 10% to 36% in different positions, depending on the type of components."

We expect savings of about 20% in the second half of 2023 from the budget for components. By further improving the quality and wear resistance of certain components, we predict that over a longer period of time, the savings will be even greater, he added.[5]

2022

IPO and attraction of 2.3 billion rubles

In mid-December 2022, the Whoosh electric scooter rental service held an IPO, becoming the first Russian company to enter the stock exchange after the start of a special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

Trading in Whoosh ordinary shares under the ticker symbol WUSH began on the Moscow Exchange on December 14, 2022. During the IPO, through an additional issue, Whoosh raised 2.1 billion rubles. Whoosh shareholders also provided shares worth 0.2 billion rubles "to conduct possible stabilization at secondary trading," the company said. Thus, the total IPO amounted to 2.3 billion rubles. According to the results of the IPO, the share of shares in free float will exceed 10% of the increased share capital. The company's market capitalization amounted to 20.6 billion rubles.

Whoosh electric scooter service held an IPO and raised 2.1 billion rubles

The service intends to invest the funds received in the development of various investment programs, as well as to enter new markets. Currently, the geography of the company's presence in the global market is limited to Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

IPO is an important and natural stage in the development of Whoosh, confirming the success of our business. The Whoosh IPO is also significant because it is the only Russian IPO in 2022. We also became the first technology company in the share economy, whose shares will be traded on the Moscow Exchange, - commented on the IPO of the CEO of Whoosh Dmitry Chuyko.

According to him, more than half of the total IPO volume fell on leading Russian investment funds.

The company is, in fact, a pioneer, and other market participants are watching how it manages to sell itself and how investors react, Veles Capital analyst Artem Mikhaylin told Forbes, commenting on the news that Whoosh's placement was the first IPO on the Russian stock market in 2022.^[6]

Admission to trading on the Moscow Exchange

At the end of November 2022, the Moscow Exchange announced that it had admitted shares in the Whoosh electric scooter rental service to trading. The company is planning an initial public offering (IPO).

Ordinary shares of PJSC Vush Holding under the ticker symbol WUSH will be included in the first quotation list of the Moscow Exchange from December 14, 2022.

Moscow Exchange allowed Whoosh to bid

In mid-September 2022, Forbes, citing its sources, wrote that Whoosh could hold an IPO before the end of this or next year. The source of the publication said that the company wanted to raise $100 million and estimated itself at $400 million.

Fund managing partner LETA Capital Alexander Chachava says that such an assessment "runs along the upper limit of the range," and the "fork" in the case of Whoosh begins with an amount 30% below 24 billion. rubles Analyst GC "Leonid Finam Delitsyn believes that the estimate of Whoosh is in the range from 16 to 24 billion rubles. The company can reach the upper limit of the range if it shows revenue of at least 6 billion rubles at the end of 2022, he says.

The fact that Whoosh is considering the possibility of an initial placement of shares on the Moscow Exchange, the company announced on November 28, 2022. Vush Holding will act as the issuer of securities.

As part of the IPO, it is planned to carry out an additional issue of shares, as well as the offer of shares by current shareholders, the volume of which will be determined later. After the IPO, current shareholders are expected to retain a significant stake in the share capital.

Whoosh funds raised during the IPO, according to a source RBC close to the company, intend to be used to finance the expansion of geography and increase the park in already covered cities, as well as projects related to increasing the life of scooters. By the end of November 2022, Whoosh operates in 40 cities, and the Russia Kazakhstan Belarus service has 11.3 million registered users.^[7]

Listing a Database for Sale

The Whoosh electric scooter rental service Data Base is for sale, which became known in mid-November 2022.

According to the Telegram channel "Data1eaks/Database Leaks," the database contains 7.237 million unique telephone numbers. In addition to telephone numbers, two files with user lists contain names, e-mail, part of bank card data and other information. The leak affected a significant part of Russian residents, according to the authors of the Telegram channel.

Data Base of Whoosh service put up for sale

Also, hackers sell a file with Whoosh promo codes. Ashot Hovhannisyan, founder of the DLBI dark web search and monitoring service, noted that hackers took electric scooters for free for at least a couple of months.

In early November 2022, Whoosh reported that it had stopped an attack by hackers who tried to steal the personal data of several million users. After that, the company turned to law enforcement agencies. Then the press service said that Whoosh's security procedures "exclude the possibility of obtaining third parties' access to the full payment data of users' bank cards."

The leak did not affect sensitive user data such as account accesses, transaction information or travel details. Whoosh's security procedures also exclude the possibility of obtaining third parties access to the full payment data of users' bank cards, the company's press service added at the time.

Whoosh's share in the Russian e-scooter rental market by November 2022 is estimated at 50%, the company is the fastest growing sharing service in Russia. The company operates in more than 40 Russian cities, its fleet is about 75,000 scooters.^[8]

Selling business in Europe

July 12, 2022 it became known about the sale of the European business Whoosh. It was bought by the general director of the Estonian kicksharing service Prime Lauri Truve.

The founder of Whoosh Dmitry Chuyko told Vedomosti about the deal. He explained the sale of the European asset by the fact that "in the existing realities, business in the EU countries is complicated."

Whoosh sold business in Europe

Whoosh decided to focus on business development in Russia, where it has been operating since 2019, and in the CIS. We see that here the population actively uses scooters and kicksharing services have many opportunities for growth and development together with cities. The most important thing for us is to continue to form a driving culture among citizens and contribute to ensuring that scooters receive legal status as soon as possible, Chuyko said.

A representative of Whoosh clarified to the publication that as part of the deal with Truve, 2,500 scooters will be sold in Portugal and another 2,000 in other countries. Truve will receive the right to use the brand. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

If the service managed to recruit a user base, it can be estimated at €10 million, said Finam analyst Leonid Delitsyn. If not, the assets were most likely sold at the cost of scooters - for about €4.5 million, he added.

The publisher of the Trushering project, Iouri Nikolaev, explained Whoosh's decision to sell its business in Europe by the inability to manage its operating activities from Russia.

By July 12, 2022, the largest shareholder of the Russian Whoosh electric scooter rental service is Dmitry Chuyko, who owns 44.68% of the authorized capital of VUSH LLC (this share is pledged by FC Opening"").

In May 2022, it became known that Whoosh encountered problems when ordering chips from European supplier STM.^[9]

Attracting 3.5 billion investments

The Russian electric scooter rental service Whoosh raised 3.5 billion rubles, which the company reported on June 27, 2022. Financing came through the placement of exchange-traded bonds at a rate of 13.5%.

The Whoosh team intends to direct the funds received to optimize debts. The registered program on the exchange is 30 billion rubles. On June 24, 2022, Whoosh collected investor bids for three-year Series 001P-01 exchange-traded bonds with quarterly coupons. The issuer is Vush LLC. The organizers of the issue are Gazprombank and Credit Bank of Moscow.

Russian electric scooter rental service Whoosh attracted 3.5 billion rubles

We started as a startup, but achieved high growth rates without losing our service and financial stability... I am glad that our issue was interesting to investors and we became the first debutant on the Moscow Exchange after February 2022, - said the founder and CEO of Whoosh Dmitry Chuyko.

He called the bond issue an important stage in Whoosh's development. Companies issue exchange-traded bonds to attract leveraged financing. Compared to traditional credit at the bank, they have several advantages:

• no collateral or surety is needed;
• there is no fixed amount of borrowed funds;
• during the life of the bond, only the coupon is paid, not the debt;
• financing conditions remain the same, even if they have deteriorated in the market.

By the end of June 2022, there are about 76 thousand scooters in Whoosh Park. The service plans to increase this volume to 100 thousand units in 2023. The main supplier of machines for this service is the Chinese company NineRobot. Despite the logistical difficulties after the start of the special operation in Ukraine, Whoosh does not expect supply problems.

By mid-2022, Whoosh operates in 45 Russian cities and has an audience of more than 8 million users.^[10]

2021

Entering Europe

At the end of November 2021, it became known that the Russian Whoosh electric scooter rental service was entering the European market. To implement this project, the company will invest $20 million.

In February 2021, the Whoosh service will be launched in Lisbon, at the first stage, 2,500 electric scooters will appear in the Portuguese capital. Parking in the city will be without locks - special markings will be applied to the road surface, within the boundaries of which users will be able to complete the lease.

Russian electric scooter rental service Whoosh enters the European market and invests $20 million in this

In the spring of 2022, Whoosh plans to start working in Hungary. In total, the company intends to launch in seven countries. Also in plans - to increase in 2022 the fleet of electric scooters outside Russia to 15 thousand units.

Tariffs for the use of the Whoosh service by the end of November 2021 have not yet been approved. However, it is known that the start of the trip will cost users 1 euro, and each minute of driving - about 15 euro cents.

To launch in Europe, Whoosh will invest $20 million from working capital and debt financing from partner banks and open a Portuguese subsidiary - Whoosh PT. By the end of November 2021, Whoosh PT is looking for an operating director. The company plans to bring in more than a dozen employees to provide support in Portuguese and English.

We go beyond Russia with confidence: market analysis has shown that the company has a significant advantage over competitors in the form of a high technological base and strong operational expertise, "said Dmitry Chuyko, co-founder and head of Whoosh.

In Russia, the Whoosh service has more than 45 thousand electric scooters and 200 electric bicycles (by the end of November 2021). Whoosh and Urent control about 70-80% of the Russian electric scooter market for two, according to data from the Trushering portal. According to him, in 2021 the volume of this market in the Russian Federation will reach 12 billion rubles, and by 2024 the figure will grow to 30-40 billion rubles.^[11]

Receiving compensation for damaged electric scooters in Moscow

At the end of September 2021, it became known that the hooligans who damaged 800 electric scooters in Moscow paid kicksharing services compensation in the amount of 1 million rubles.

The incident occurred at the end of August 2021. Three suspects, judging by the recordings of video cameras in the center of Moscow, in three hours, walking from the Shabolavskaya metro station to the Oktyabrskaya metro station, past Gorky Park and then to the Komsomolskaya metro station, spoiled all scooters on their way with solidol. They especially emphasized numerous kicksharing parking lots near metro stations. Nine Bot Max Pro models suffered - solidol was poured onto electronic panels and controls.

About 500 damaged electric scooters belonged to Whoosh, about 300 to Urent, and about 25-30 more to Yandex Go. The companies were involved in an internal investigation of the Department of Internal Affairs in the Yakimanka district. Police have revealed the perpetrators were three men aged 21-22.

Hooligans who spoiled 800 electric scooters in Moscow paid a fine to services

According to the Telegram channel Baza, Bulat Ashikhmin, Oleg Lukin and Roman Lebedev, who are fans of the publicist and historian Yevgeny Ponasenkov, known online as Maestro, committed hooligan actions. The Russians met in the comments under one of Ponasenkov's videos. After the incident, Maestro released a new video titled "Ponasenkov vs. Electric Scooters."

According to the law, young people were threatened with criminal or administrative liability, but the services withdrew their statements and entered into an amicable agreement - the attackers paid compensation. According to Forbes, we are talking about an amount of 1 million rubles. The affected companies explained that they had already received their parts of this amount.

Whoosh sent all the funds to the fund for assistance to children with diseases of the musculoskeletal system "Movement is life." Urent and Yandex Go will also transfer money to Russian charitable foundations.^[12]

Attraction of 1.8 billion rubles

In mid-February 2021, it became known about the attraction by the Whoosh service of more than $25 million (about 1.8 billion rubles at the current exchange rate) from the closed mutual investment fund VTB Capital pre-iPiO Fund and the structure of Otkritie Bank.

Whoosh intends to spend the funds on scaling the electric scooter sharing service: increase the fleet in the cities of presence and launch new territories, continue to improve the systems of its own planning platform, IoT module and other IT products.

Whoosh electric scooter rental service attracted 1.8 billion rubles

The representative of Whoosh told RBC that under the terms of the transaction, the VTB structure received 13.7% of the shares (Otkritie Bank was not included in the shareholders).

The CEO of Whoosh Dmitry Chuyko noted that the company will consider options for going abroad, since in the European market "there are big players who are far behind in terms of service, software and technologies." But for this, first the company needs to gain a foothold in many Russian cities and find a foreign strategic investor "who can give the company some additional value, except for money," he added.

By mid-February 2021, the Whoosh electric scooter rental service operates in 12 cities of Russia, and the number of users is measured at 2 million people.^[13][14]

Notes