The Barcelona firm Cooltra continues its growth path unrelated to the situation of the micromobility industry, marked by a wave of concentrations (this week, Bolt's interest in acquiring its competitor Tier has emerged).
This year, the Barcelona company has its sights set on exceeding 50 million euros in turnover, up from 47 million the previous year. "2023 will be a quiet year after the 48% growth we recorded last year," says Timo Buetefisch, co-founder and CEO.
The seniority of the company, which broke into the sector in 2006, as well as its strategy to diversify into car rental for companies, make Cooltra look to the future with confidence after overcoming the difficult years of the pandemic. "In 2022, we reached an ebitda (gross profit) of 5.2 million and this year, we are going to improve this figure," says the entrepreneur.
In November, the company received an injection of 25 million euros from its shareholders, including Francisco José Riberas Mera, president of Gestamp, a Basque multinational of automotive components. With this capital, the company wants to accelerate its presence abroad, which now represents 30% of its activity.
"We operate in a total of 7 European countries and we want to strengthen our presence in Germany and France through new vehicle rental contracts for companies," says the manager. This business division already contributes around half of the revenue. Among its clients, Cooltra has companies such as Just Eat, Domino's Pizza, Getir, Glovo or public administration institutions such as town halls or the Civil Guard.
As for the shared motorcycle rental business by the minute, the company highlights its recent entry into Seville and Turin. At the moment, it does not propose new landings but the reinforcement of the nine cities where it operates. The company wants to become strong in the exploitation of the motorcycle and the shared bike, leaving aside the scooter. According to Buetefisch, it is an unsafe vehicle that presents regulatory problems in several European cities.
With almost 500 people on staff, another of the company's commitments is to promote the electrification of the fleet. Last year it invested 10 million euros in renewing vehicles – the company works mainly with European suppliers – and has achieved that 85% of its vehicles are now electric.
