Melbourne entrepreneur James Murphy (founder of the BajaBoard off-road electric skateboard), first dreamt of building his very own electric scooter back when he was a teenager. Fast forward to 2017, he did just that by starting Raine electric scooters from his home garage.
James was simply looking for a way to get from A to B, but no other electric scooter on the market had the speed, range, power or style he was looking for, so he decided to do what any great engineer would do—design his own.
Joining forces with Marc Alexander (Chief Product & Technology Officer and Co-Founder of LIFX) and Michelle Mannering (Content Producer in the realms of technology and “Hackathon Queen”), the Raine team has worked hard to perfect their first model—the Raine One. Since its initial inception, the product’s design has gone through many iterations (the X-fold system alone took 12 months to perfect), until the team was finally confident that they’d created a product the market would love.
The Raine One is made from the highest quality materials to ensure the frame is strong, compact and lightweight, so it can be easily carried onto public transport or easily stored. The innovative flux-drive motor allows the Raine One to reach speeds of up to 50km/h—making it one of the fastest scooters of this size on the market. And with a max range of 40km, poly-shock suspension system, ABS braking, customisable LED lights, and a numerous smart features (including app-connected GPS tracking and in-built locking system), this Australian team have definitely designed a fun and reliable scooter that will get you where you need to go.
To get their product in the hands of as many people as possible at a competitive price, the team at Raine have decided to launch the Raine One electric scooter through a Kickstarter campaign. The founders are no strangers to Kickstarter, and have seen the benefits of the crowdfunding platform firsthand. Specifically, the opportunity to get instant feedback from their backers, implement those changes and ultimately involve their customers in the final development of the Raine One were major reasons why they wanted to utilise the platform.
In the lead up to their Kickstarter campaign launch on November 11, Raine Scooters have been utilising Facebook and Instagram marketing. They’ve already achieved some great initial traction with over 7,000 Facebook followers, 1,500 Instagram followers, and an incredible 10,000 sign-ups to their email list - all gained in the last couple of months.
To further incentivise interested consumers to sign up early ahead of the product launch, Raine have also offered a 30% discount on their electric scooter. This enticing offer seems to have resonated with their audience, and I’m sure many of those who have already signed up will convert into Kickstarter supporters. If you’d like to find out more about the launch of Raine Scooters’ Kickstarter campaign, or claim your 30% discount, click here: https://raine.co/
The Melbourne ecosystem has also been integral to Raine Scooters’ success, particularly in developing each of its founders. "With a range of supportive startup programs, Melbourne is quickly becoming a hotbed of startup activity. Communities like the Melbourne Accelerator Program, LaunchVic, Startup Victoria, Inspire9, FAB9, and many others have provided networks, knowledge, and guidance in many areas of entrepreneurship for Melbourne founders", says co-founder Michelle Mannering. These experiences are key to the team building the best version of Raine Scooters and for all their future endeavours.