Segway takes $5M more for innovative scooters
A scant two months after completing a $35 million funding, Segway, makers of the innovative, self-balancing scooters known everywhere but seen almost nowhere, has taken on another $5 million.
The funding was first reported by peHUB at the end of last week, but VentureWire offers a few more details this morning. The money is from an unnamed strategic investor that the company “couldn’t pass up”, according to VW. The round is staying open with $9 million remaining for any further strategic investments.
Despite still not having made it big — seven years after predicting that it would — Segway is still trying hard to become serious competition for ambulation and bicycling, with innovative marketing moves like the Segway Social. There’s even some indication that sales are picking up. However, the company also recently lost its CTO, Doug Field, to Apple, indicating that the scooter business likely still isn’t jet-fueled.
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About the Author, Chris Morrison
Chris Morrison writes about cleantech and environmental issues for VentureBeat, with occasional forays into gaming and semantic technology. He got his start writing about tech for Business 2.0 magazine, but quickly realized new media was the ticket when that institution closed its doors in 2007. Chris has also covered public equities and regulatory issues. He originally hails from southern Virginia, graduated from Evergreen State College in Washington, and now lives in San Francisco.