Gaiyo makes sustainable shared mobility accessible and works towards a greener future

15 March 2024 9:00

Many people want to use shared mobility, but find it difficult to know where to start in order to access all forms of transportation. That’s what Lucien Groenhuijzen realized a few years ago. With Gaiyo, a "magic key " in the form of an app, he removes that barrier to sustainable shared mobility.

Een foto van de Gaiyo app met op de achtergrond een persoon die de mobiel vasthoudt

The early years of Gaiyo

Gaiyo’s founder and owner isn’t completely new to the mobility market. Groenhuijzen was previously involved with TomTom. And ten years ago, he already started developing smart apps that motivate people to travel less by car. The birth of Gaiyo came a few years later. Groenhuijzen: ‘We noticed that people were quite willing to try other forms of sustainable transportation. However, they found it difficult to get started. Gaiyo is a magic key that gives access to all forms of transportation – wherever you are.’ With just one app, users can see all nearby sustainable mobility options: from parking and electric shared cars to public transportation and e-bikes. And they can book, pay and drive. It encourages sustainable transport and makes (shared) mobility easier for everyone – both business and private.

A more sustainable travel alternative

Groenhuijzen wants to prevent about 70.000 tons of CO2 emissions with Gaiyo within the next five years, together with its users. ‘We are facing enormous environmental challenges. Together we must move toward a more sustainable world. As a person or company, the greatest impact you have in your daily life is your travel. That’s why almost all transportation we offer on the app is electric. We are also seeing customers using our public transportation options more often, which of course is a totally sustainable alternative. And the use of e-bikes and electric scooters is on the rise’, says Groenhuijzen.

Lucien Groenhuijzen, oprichter van Gaiyo, laat de app zien
Founder Lucien Groenhuijzen showing the Gaiyo app

Getting bigger and bigger

How users enter the app has to do with Gaiyo’s approach: ‘We are the cheapest parking app in the Netherlands because we don’t charge transaction fees. We do this because people who now use our app to park, are also slowly discovering all the other mobility options we offer. Such as public and shared transport. A quarter of our parking users are already choosing one or more other (electric) mobility options. So step by step, people suddenly make the choice to make their entire journey more sustainable. And that’s exactly how we think.’

Rabobank’s role

From the beginning, Rabobank was involved with Gaiyo, partly because Groenhuijzen already knew the bank from his time at TomTom. Groenhuijzen: ‘I noticed there that Rabobank is a bank that stands by you through the good and the bad. I wanted the same kind of bank for Gaiyo. Of course, we are an innovative company and need to invest a lot. For that we also need the resources.’ Rabobank’s investments have allowed Gaiyo to grow. ‘We started small, but now our team consists of about 40 people. Half of them are developers,’ Groenhuijzen explains.

“It's great that we are also removing a threshold abroad. That's what we want.”

Jeroen Brouwer of Rabobank’s Startup & Scale-up Team was at Lucien’s side, ensuring that Gaiyo had the right resources to move to the next phase. ‘With new business models, like Gaiyo’s, granting funding is a little different. There is no data yet, and there are no competitors. You don’t know how the idea will turn out. That’s why, among other things, we engage with our sector specialists to see if a plan has potential. But we also look at other things that other financiers don’t look at. For example, is there a stable team, are they entrepreneurial enough, are there opportunities for spin-offs?’

Transition banking

Fortunately, that was all in place at Gaiyo. Brouwer: ‘We started with an innovative escrow loan. As a Startup & Scale-up banker, I structure the application and make sure everything is backed up with the right data. Meanwhile, we also serve Gaiyo with insurance and Identity Services.’ Groenhuijzen: ‘Another added value is that Rabobank connects me with all kinds of relevant parties. This stems from the good relationship we have. You need each other’s knowledge to grow.’ Gaiyo has a challenging business model, Brouwer continues. ‘Just get everyone out of their cars. The market is not quite there yet, but shared mobility is becoming increasingly important. Especially in cities. Due to a lack of space, cars are disappearing from the city. So, you have to offer an alternative. Gaiyo removes that barrier. At Rabobank, we believe in the transition to shared transport in large cities. It is an important part of a greener future.

Ambitions within mobility

Groenhuijzen has plenty of ideas for expanding Gaiyo even further. Initially, he is focusing on the Dutch market. ‘We have started marketing to get more brand awareness. In addition, because we work with many international mobility providers, it is easier for us to launch Gaiyo in other countries. That’s why we recently started in Belgium. There are other parties active in that country, which in turn gives us an entry point into Germany or France , for example. We are gradually expanding our network. It is great that we are also removing a threshold abroad. That’s what we want.’

Discover which financing suits your company

Gaiyo is a good example of how Rabobank supports startups in different stages of life. If your startup or scale-up also needs financing, Rabobank offers different financing products and innovation funds for sustainable growth in every stage of development. Contact us to find out how we can support your company in realizing your ambitions.

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