Micromobility firm Beam logs 36% revenue boost in 2023, hits EBITDA profitability

Photo credit: Beam

Beam, a global micromobility player, said it grew its gross revenue by 36% year on year in 2023, amounting to US$53 million.

This jump was driven by increased demand for its e-scooters and e-bikes, the company said. In 2023, Beam also cut group expenses by 25%, which helped the firm achieve EBITDA profitability in the latter half of the year.

“We are seeing an uptick in commuter usage, both for work and study, particularly in mature micromobility markets such as Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea,” Alan Jiang, CEO of Beam, told Tech in Asia.

The company aims to increase vehicle availability and introduce new models to provide smoother and more regular services similar to conventional public transit.

Beam operates in over 130 cities across eight countries, including Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Turkey.

Jiang said the company focuses on markets that have regulatory frameworks that would allow Beam to offer its services at a national level. It then establishes local partnerships with governments, universities, businesses, and tourism bodies.

However, Beam is currently not active in its home country of Singapore – something Jiang is hopeful they can change some time in the future.

“We’re excited about the potential of micromobility in Singapore and are confident that recent upgrades to shared micromobility technology […] can address many of the concerns seen during Singapore’s previous shared micromobility programs,” he added. These upgrades include those in path detection and GPS capabilities.

While Jiang said that Beam would be interested in exploring potential partnerships in Singapore, the focus right now for the company is profitability, “which means we are focused on launching our services in countries that already have existing micromobility programs for e-scooters and e-bikes in place.”

The exec marked Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Turkey as its current target markets. For these countries, Beam will focus on boosting accessibility and affordability, he added.

To bankroll these expansion efforts, Jiang said the company will mainly be using debt financing, prioritizing a more prudent use of capital over raising funds. It last raised a series B round in 2022, securing US$93 million.

“We have seen a number of companies in the micromobility industry look to consolidate or exit the market, and the reduced competition has allowed us to consolidate our position and run more efficient operations,” Jiang pointed out. 

Some of the company’s active competitors include Singapore-based Neuron, which also has operations in Australia and New Zealand. Similar to Beam, Neuron is not currently active in Singapore.