Roro is the same attractive green electric scooter

His name was “Tehran”, he came from Tahir and Pakizeh, but little by little, with the increase of cars and population, his name was no longer appropriate, that is, he became “Tehran”. One of the biggest problems that the capital municipality is struggling with is the problem of traffic and air pollution, which has always invited citizens to use public transportation. But recently, the corona outbreak has made the recommendation even harder. One of the solutions to these problems in the world is to use clean vehicles such as electric scooters or bicycles. Recently, if you went to Chitgar Lake in the west of Tehran, green scooters will attract your attention. These scooters came from the Roro startup that we talked to the founder of:

Tell us about your biography first:

I am Mehdi Hassanzadeh, I have a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Tehran (year 76) and a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Science and Technology (year 79). After graduating, I first started working in the field of consulting engineers, and all my experience of twenty years is in the field of consulting engineers; I have been the CEO of Rahyafat Consulting Engineers since 1984. In 1995, I received my PhD in Business Administration. We started the Roro startup in 1998 with the help of a few people, and according to my knowledge and experience, over the next few years, the development of clean transportation in cities around the world and in Iran, both in terms of work and in terms of social responsibility, demand It will be a lot, we entered this field. Servant as Chairman of the Board Startup Roro And I am one of its co-founders and my role is a specialized project consultant.

How was Roro born?

For years, I had studied clean transportation startups from the perspective of mentors and investors, and I wanted to steer startups in this area in a way that meets the needs of the country; But unfortunately, I did not find a startup with a strong team, and in the second half of 1998, the idea of ​​the birth of this type of startup was formed by ourselves and its team building, and its platform and application were launched, and in the first half of 1999, its initial product MVP . In the late summer of ’99, the three main products of ordinary bicycles, electric bicycles and electric scooters were created and integrated with the software; In a period of time, we tested and launched the product to solve the initial problems. It was implemented for free in the short term to get feedback from users and to make corrections. It took about 6 to 9 months in the innovation factory. From May 1400, when the problems were minimized, we went to the real community and took a real test in the area of ​​Chitgar Lake with the product of electric scooter to evaluate the resilience of the system and during the 60 days that the system is located in Chitgar Lake. Extraordinary results. For example, part of these results is that 1,500 new users have joined the system, user satisfaction with the system has exceeded 80%, the average time of using scooters has reached 40 minutes, and…

Are these three products domestically produced or imported?

In the short term, Roro’s business plan is to import products, but it is an internal platform and the internal technical team wrote the program. Ruro’s long-term plan is to localize products so that we do not run into import and customs problems.

Which organizations can support Ruro and which organizations have supported it so far?

Roro services include various sections and are not limited to urban thoroughfares; As we are currently in Chitgarh Park, so we can say that the products are used for both recreational and transportation purposes. We will examine all these sections and we will enter different cities according to that need. According to opinion polls, two problems in Tehran are traffic and air pollution. Ruro products and services can solve these problems to some extent, so it is desirable for the municipality. The municipal subdivision of the Traffic Organization and the Deputy of Traffic Transportation, the Information Technology Organization from the perspective of smartening or other organs from the perspective of reducing air pollution can be the beneficiaries of this project. Non-municipal organizations such as the Ministry of Sports and Youth, the Ministry of Health, Education and the Ministry of Higher Education are also among the beneficiaries of this project. Spiritual support is currently provided by the municipality; Because municipalities are under pressure from the people to solve the problem of traffic and air pollution, and the option of clean transportation is a low-cost solution, so municipalities have also shown a desire to support, this is one of the signs of the municipality’s desire for clean transportation. A group in the municipality has provided this type of service.

What about innovation ecosystems? Have they shown a willingness to support?

Different groups are interested and we are working with them in some areas, but the value of this type of service for different groups is not yet clear and they do not believe that scooters can be responsible for part of the daily movement of cities. One of our biggest challenges is to face real examples such as Chitgarh Lake and the resulting statistics, and to negotiate with ecosystem complexes with full hands.

What are the terms of use of Roro products?

It depends on whether they are for recreational use or for transportation. Naturally, if they have recreational use, the costs will be higher, but the transportation use will be lower because in this case, part of the costs will be paid by the municipality. How to use it is that by using the application and registering in it, which is very simple and short and requires an initial charge, you will find the product closest to you and with the help of QR code, unlock it. And you make your journey; After the trip, you end the trip in the application and at the end, it will be deducted from the account in proportion to the travel time.

Does the user not pay a membership fee? What are the costs?

We have two general plans; A plan that the user enters with a membership fee, in this plan naturally costs less to use. In a plan where the user does not pay the membership fee, he pays according to the amount of use. In the second plan, the cost will be higher. In both schemes, the cost of insurance is calculated on the other costs. In the first plan, when you pay the initial cost, insurance is also included. In the second plan, the cost of insurance is divided by the cost of use. The pricing of these projects is different in different cities and is done according to the conditions. For example, the use of electric scooters in Tehran for every 20 minutes is between 20 to 30 thousand tomans, plus the cost of unlocking, which is between 5 to 10 thousand tomans. For ordinary bicycles, the amount of 2,500 tomans per half hour has been calculated.

What is the biggest challenge Ruro has faced?

Naturally, in the field of startups, there are many challenges. The main ones are the challenges that are beyond our control; One of the characteristics of a startup is its agility, but on the other hand, the organizations we work with do not have this speed and have a lot of bureaucracy. For example, in the Chitgarh Lake project, it took 6 months of coordination to reach an agreement and offer this service there. Another issue is the import of products, which due to the problems of the country, some issues are beyond our control; Although we have tried to expand our communication in this area, it is still one of our current challenges. Such products also become profitable when they are well developed and require significant capital, which fortunately has been negotiated in terms of raising capital, but it is still one of our challenges today.

Did Ruro need a special license?

Naturally, if these products are used as a means of transportation in all cities, it needs to be coordinated with the municipality and the police, but outside the cities’ transportation network, coordination must be made with the relevant body and the trustee of that body.

Do you have a competitor in the market? What is your critique and analysis of them?

Yes. A company that has been operating in Tehran and Shiraz for several years, but only in the field of ordinary bicycles; He has done good things in some areas and has had some problems. Although this apparently does not seem specialized, it is very specialized and has many details, and if those details are not seen, it will not have effective services. For example, a company in a large area of ​​Tehran first imported 2,000 bicycles and today 1300 bicycles; According to global parameters, this number of bicycles is very low due to the high population density of Tehran, and this number had to be entered in a smaller area so that users can access it in a short time, so when paying attention to these details Otherwise, the desirability of using the system will decrease, leading to unattractiveness for users and adversely affecting the future of the business. The competitors, although they had little expertise in this field, introduced this market to the cities, and this shows that if the right steps are taken, this type of business will succeed.

Apart from businesses, in recent years, the municipality has also offered bicycles. Why do you think these bikes were collected?

Perhaps one of the reasons for their collection was the existence of the municipality as its sponsor. Municipalities have shown that they do not have the ability to function systematically and at the same time agile. This type of system requires systematic, agile performance and planning, and its success is not accidental. For example, if the Chitgarh Lake project is managed by an untrained logistics team, it will lead to user dissatisfaction; Experience has shown that municipalities are not able to do this; Recently, in several cities, the municipality has started this work, but it has not been successful. The private sector optimizes the route, minimizes costs, and improves efficiency because it benefits the issue and revenues and costs are important to it. All over the world, they have gone to the private sector to launch this system and achieved good results.

Given the appeal of this business to people, you may not need marketing, do you have a marketing plan?

We can’t just “make this business attractive to people” so we have to work in marketing as well. We are currently focusing on content marketing, whether through virtual networks or through interviews, but one positive thing is that municipalities are considering a part of marketing in the future, given their desire to enter the field and their need for it. They will do it and take over the propaganda, and we will count on the facilities of the municipalities.

Concluding remarks

The issue of clean transport or micro-mobility means clean and light transport, even in the world is a new issue. This means that the growth of bicycle and scooter use has increased dramatically, especially in the last 5 years, and in a way, leading countries have decided to ban cars from entering the central core of cities and instead create a beautiful urban space. And create safe to attract people. This issue has been introduced in Iranian cities for several years; Corona also provides a good platform for clean transportation; Because people have the mentality of how much better to use clean tools from now on. Little by little, we can claim that clean transportation in cities is no longer a pastime and a sport or a fantasy, but a necessity, so my request to the municipalities is to pay special attention to this issue. According to our research, with the exception of Tehran, over 80% of the daily commute in most cities is less than 5 km, which means that clean transportation would be a great option and all transportation by car. Someone is not right at all. In a study in one of the largest cities in the country, we came to the conclusion that 400,000 trips of less than one kilometer are made in that city every day, which can be done on foot or by bicycle, so if the cities focus and promote this issue, They will reap huge benefits in the short term.