One Moto Aims to Decarbonise the UK’s Last-Mile Sector

One Moto, an electric mobility company that has been making waves in the last-mile delivery industry, recently secured £123m in financing for B2B customers in the UK. With this significant capital injection, the company is focused on “decarbonising the UK’s last-mile sector”. Apart from this, One Moto has also been expanding its product lineup and entering new markets. Their journey from a startup to a prominent electric mobility company has been filled with challenges, successes, and future plans that CEO Adam Ridgeway shares in this Q&A with The FutureList research team. Discover the role of technology in shaping their innovative solutions and the company’s plans for future growth.

The FutureList: Can you provide some insights into the journey of One Moto, from its inception to its current position as a prominent electric mobility company? What were the key milestones and challenges along the way?

Adam: The ‘niche’ of last mile delivery, the opportunity and potential, when initially researching back in 2016 started as a question “if the last-mile industry does really take off, how can we facilitate a sustainable mobility solution”, the application of an answer wasn’t as easy, however, bringing on board the right expertise to the team allowed the white paper, international research to offer us a platform to pioneer a ‘frontier market opportunity’.

Although our holding company ONE MOTO Technologies is located in the UK, we took a bold decision to launch in the UAE, a very different operational landscape compared to the gig economy of other parts of the world. Easier in some aspects, however, vastly challenging in others. EVs (in our form) didn’t exist, so working closely with the government, we crafted the legislation and policies to enter the market with benchmarks so high its negated competition to enter the market. This was our first big milestone and since launching in the UAE Jan 2020 the sector has seen some operational challenges yet tremendous growth locally and globally – defining the market need and want – ONE MOTO have successfully expanded into 10 countries within these two years with another 26 in conversation, “how?” By owning a modular value chain, offering an omnichannel ecosystem with tremendous value for each stakeholder; government, delivery platforms, fleet operators and delivery riders.

In 2020 we didn’t focus on sales due to the pandemic creating a ‘flip-flop’ decision between do we lease vehicles, or buy them (CapEx vs. OpEx) so through our successes we won six awards, from Innovation to The UAEs Most Sustainable Business, and as our transparent ESG pledge built within our DNA has allowed us international expansion.

The FutureList: What is the role technology played in shaping and advancing the electric mobility solutions offered by One Moto? Can you highlight some specific technological innovations or developments that have been key to your company’s success?

Adam: Most of the technological innovations are confidential; the process of execution has been our secret sauce. We set up the region’s first Smart Mobility and Innovation Centre in Dubai (alongside highly regarded Rochester Institute of Technology, New York) who – as a collective – have innovated the next generation of electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, telemetry and manufacturing. I’m personally very excited to make this global product launch announcement later this year.

The FutureList: Looking ahead, how do you envision the role of outsourcing tech services in fueling the future growth of One Moto? Are there plans to expand or diversify the scope of outsourced tech services to support the company’s strategic objectives?

Adam: Having successfully completed our Phase One objectives for the business, our Phase Two has begun with some significant evolutions from infrastructure, R&D, technology, partnerships, assembly and operations. This is (for us) very exciting and as ONE MOTO really is a lifestyle mobility brand built for our customers, with our customers, the inclusion of Phase Two has been curated with an even greater emphasis on the values we represent – far beyond the products we offer.

The FutureList: Could you provide insights into the company’s plans for future growth, such as entering new markets or expanding its product lineup?

Adam: ONE MOTO recently secured £123m in financing for the B2B customers in the UK, so our immediate focus is to deploy this capital to “Decarbonise the UK’s last-mile sector”. 

I’ve just signed off the final designs for three new vehicles, with a fourth in development specifically designed for the African market. Our roadmap is audacious with 100 cities by 2025, and assembly and manufacturing facilities in the UK, UAE, Mexico, Kenya and Sicily already in discussion. We are a start-up so strategic alliances, inclusive opportunities and a network of the very best experts will also see us venture a little further than the countries mentioned.

We have expanded our operations through distribution channels and a dealership network and our team are always open to discuss opportunities with suitable partners to collectively open up new markets and territories. Some of our lesser ‘obvious’ markets, including; Nepal, Ethiopia, Bahrain, Jordan have been strategically focused on and these are positioning ONE MOTO as a brand for the people, generating jobs, in-country value and by-proxy opportunities.

Visit One Moto’s profile on The FutureList here, and discover further electric vehicle tech startups here.

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