The first B2B micro-mobility tech start-up in the MENA region, TERRA TECH Ltd. (Terra), will introduce its fleet of electric motorbikes with a swap and drive operations model for the region’s expanding business landscape while taking environmental impact into account.
Husam Zammar, a serial entrepreneur, founded Terra in 2021 as a Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) company. Terra is the ground-breaking project he has been working on his entire career. The software for Terra is being diligently developed alongside Zammar by a top-notch team with expertise from regional and international tech giants like Google, Careem, and Uber.
The start-up, which was counselled by the international law firm Latham & Watkins, used its broad industry knowledge and business savvy to successfully secure pre-seed investment funding from a global network of Saudi, American, and British angel investors, enabling the firm to move forward.
The demand for commercial two-wheelers has increased dramatically over the past five years, especially since the pandemic and in the UAE and the rest of the region. Electric bikes are now being used in fleets by more and more companies as they realise the value of sustainability and environmental awareness.
After creating an energy-efficient motorbike and the region’s first swap and drive subscription model, Terra is conducting a pilot in the United Arab Emirates in collaboration with top private businesses that support the nation’s burgeoning economy.
Along with offering corporate bike rentals, Terra will also install Smart Swapping Stations across the nation, enabling users to reserve and swap out bike batteries via a mobile app.
By reducing carbon dioxide (C02) emissions, the solution enables businesses to diligently reduce their carbon footprint. Operational efficiency is simultaneously increased by time efficiency, cost/overhead reduction, driver tracking, and limitless range.
“With a business mission centred around revolutionising the standard transportation system towards sustainable and innovative mobility, Terra’s electric motorbike fleet is a solution to the rising use of its petrol-fuelled counterpart enabling progress and changing one motorbike at a time,” Hussam Zammar, CEO & Founder of Terra.
“To compensate for one tonne of C02, approximately 40 trees are needed to reduce the carbon footprint. One petrol powered delivery motorbike emits around 10 tonnes of C02 per year, meaning we would need 400 trees per bike. The UAE has upward of 60,000 petrol powered bikes commuting each day, can you imagine the size of forest required and the amount of water that would be needed to even make a dent in offsetting this?”
The tech company chose the UAE as its inaugural location as the country has become a hub for innovation and an epicentre of progression under strategic and forward-thinking leadership.
The fleets of electric motorbikes are just the beginning. In the UAE, Terra intends to create an electric ecosystem that will enable electric mobility and link communities. Its growth strategy includes further enlargement throughout the Middle East and then globally.