“Animal Crossing: New Horizons” is a bonafide wonder. The game has been setting new records for Nintendo, is adored by players and critics alike and provides millions of players a peaceful escape during these unprecedented times.

But there’s been something even more extraordinary happening on the fringe: Players are finding ways to augment the game experience through community-organized activities and tools. These include free weed-pulling services (tips welcome!) from virtual Samaritans, and custom-designed items for sale — for real-world money, via WeChat Pay and AliPay.

Well-known personalities and companies are also contributing, with “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” scribe Gary Whitta hosting an A-list celebrity talk show using the game, and luxury fashion brand Marc Jacobs providing some of its popular clothing designs to players. 100 Thieves, the white-hot esports and apparel company, even created and gave away digital versions of its entire collection of impossible-to-find clothes.

This community-based phenomenon gives us a pithy glimpse into not only where games are inevitably going, but what their true potential is as a form of creative, technical and economic expression. It also exemplifies what we at Forte call “community economics,” a system that lies at the heart of our aim in bringing new creative and economic opportunities to billions of people around the world.

What is community economics?

Formally, community economics is the synthesis of economic activity that takes place inside, and emerges outside, virtual game worlds. It is rooted in a cooperative economic relationship between all participants in a game’s network, and characterized by an economic pluralism that is unified by open technology owned by no single party. And notably, it results in increased autonomy for players, better business models for game creators, and new economic and creative opportunities for both.

The fundamental shift that underlies community economics is the evolution of games from centralized entertainment experiences to open economic platforms. We believe this is where things are heading.

AutoX, the autonomous vehicle startup backed by Alibaba, has been granted a permit in California to begin driverless testing on public roads in a limited area in San Jose.

The permit will allow AutoX to test its autonomous vehicles without a human safety driver behind the wheel. This is the third company to receive a driverless testing permit. Waymo and Nuro also have driverless testing permits. Unlike the other two companies, AutoX’s permit is limited to one vehicle and restricted to surface streets within a designated part of San Jose near is headquarters, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which regulates AV testing in the state. The vehicle is approved to operate in fair weather conditions and light precipitation on streets with a speed limit of no more than 45 mph, the agency said.

AutoX, which is developing a full self-driving stack, has had a permit to test autonomous vehicles with safety drivers since 2017. Currently, 62 companies have an active permit to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver on California roads.

To qualify for a driverless testing permit, companies have to show proof of insurance or a bond equal to $5 million, verify the vehicles are capable of operating without a driver, meet federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards or have an exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

While AutoX has been operating robotaxi pilots in California and China, the company has said its real aim is to license its technology to companies that want to operate robotaxi fleets of their own. It has been particularly active in China, although this driverless permit hints that the company might be ramping up its activity in the U.S. as well.

AutoX opened an 80,000-square-foot Shanghai Robotaxi Operations Center in April, following a 2019 agreement with municipal authorities to deploy 100 autonomous vehicles in the Jiading District. The vehicles in the fleet were assembled at a factory about 93 miles outside of Shanghai.

The company has been operating a fleet of robotaxis in Shenzhen through a pilot program launched in 2019 with BYD. In January, AutoX partnered with Fiat Chrysler to roll out a fleet of robotaxis for China and other countries in Asia.

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here: 494th 1Mby1M Roundtable July 16, 2020: With Dan Roselli, CFV Ventures

___

The venture capital world is constantly changing, and its evolution can sometimes flip pieces of conventional wisdom on their heads. For example, a recent flurry of extension rounds from Silicon Valley’s hottest startups like Stripe and Robinhood seem to signal that the investment type has suddenly become cool.

Extensions evolving from unloved to hot is not the first time that a type of VC deal has gained, or lost luster. In past times, for example, raising consecutive rounds from the same lead investor was often perceived as a negative signal; why couldn’t the startup find a new, different lead investor? Today, in contrast, venture capitalists are using inside rounds to double-down on winning startups, a way of helping ensure returns for their own backers.

The recent phenomenon of extensions becoming vogue is a tale of the times, in which the best startups get to play offense, and startups that can’t show accelerating growth are left behind. Let’s explore what has changed.

A series of fortunate extensions

TechCrunch first wrote about the new extension-round trend after seeing what felt like a wave of the deals crop up. Some were large, like MariaDB’s huge $25 million add-on to its Series C, or Robinhood’s biblical $320 million addition to its Series F.

But most were smaller events like Sayari adding $2.5 million to its Series B, or CALA adding $3 million to its seed round. Even more recently, Eterneva raised another $3 million on top of its seed round, and also out this week was a million pounds more for Edinburgh-based Machine Labs’ seed round.

One reason for the growth of extension rounds in 2020 has been runway — making sure that a startup has enough. Upstarts often raise on an 18-month cadence. But because of COVID-19 and its constituent economic disruptions, many have reduced costs in a bid to bolster how long they have until their cash stores reach zero.

From setting up a printing machine in the dining room to $23 million in revenue, RushOrderTees CEO Michael Nemeroff’s journey is one of steady, diligent execution. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at...

___

Your product may solve problems. It may cost less and do more. It may very well change the world. But unless you can get the word out, ensuring the right group of people know about it and are willing to use it, pay for it and evangelize it, then your hard work is in vain.

At TechCrunch Early Stage, we’ll hear from some of the world’s top minds in the fields of marketing and brand building. They’ll talk through different growth marketing tactics, from creating growth assets for paid channels to capitalizing on podcasts to SEO to email. They’ll cover the complicated world of PR, and they’ll teach us about how to develop a brand that users can relate to.

Of course, this is just one slice of the pie. At Early Stage, experts across a wide variety of startup core competencies — fundraising, legal, recruiting, tech stack, scaling and more — will take the virtual stage to give early-stage founders the tools they need to get out there and succeed. What’s more, these experts have made time to answer audience questions, so don’t be shy!

Here’s a look at all the marketing sessions you can expect at the show:

Why should anyone care? (Making your brand stand out) with Caryn Marooney

Startups often struggle to create a narrative that stands out. As a general partner at Coatue, former head of Comms at Facebook and co-founder of the OutCast Agency, Caryn Marooney has seen it all. Come learn the brand and messaging framework that can help your company stand out (while staying true to yourself.)

Growth Marketing: Minimum viable email with Susan Su

Love it or hate it, email is here to stay. But understanding where it fits into the conversion funnel and how to maximize its impact can be arduous. Learn from Sound Ventures partner Susan Su how to optimize open rates, deliverability, unsubscribes and conversions for consumer and enterprise products alike.

How to build a high-performance SEO engine with Ethan Smith

Hear from Ethan Smith, who has worked with brands like MasterClass, Ticketmaster and Thumbtack, as he shares some of the most effective modern SEO strategies. Starting with a deep understanding of the user and their intent, the most successful modern SEO strategies focus on building a data-driven approach to drive user experience, content and conversion to ultimately beat the competition.

Be the best at preparing for the worst with Margit Wennmachers and Miguel Helft

Inevitably, something will go wrong — from product recalls and lawsuits to executive firings and sexual harassment allegations, so you better be prepared. Hear from Margit Wennmachers, operating partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a co-founder of OutCast Communications (now The OutCast Agency) and Miguel Helft, editorial director at Message Lab, about how to develop a framework for crisis and withstand through tough times.

Growth Marketing: Podcasts as a secret weapon with Krystina Rubino and Lindsay Piper Shaw

Podcast advertising is widely viewed as a nascent medium, but smart companies know it can be a powerful channel in their marketing mix. Opportunity is ripe — get in early and you can own the medium, box out competitors and catapult your growth. Krystina Rubino and Lindsay Piper Shaw have launched and scaled successful podcast ad campaigns for early-stage startups and household name brands and will be sharing their strategies for companies to succeed in this often misunderstood channel.

How to get people obsessed with your brand with Emily Heyward

During her 12-year tenure running Red Antler, one of the leading brand companies for startups and new ventures, Emily Heyward has launched more brands than anyone. In this session for TechCrunch Early Stage, she’ll share the modern rules of brand building, breaking down the traditional notions of how modern brands look, feel and behave. Covering a few case studies and tactical applications, Emily will outline the best practices for driving obsession from day one while also building a foundation for long-term growth.

How to create great growth assets for paid channels with Asher King Abramson

Learn about the right ways and wrong ways to create great assets for paid channels, landing pages and more in this teardown workshop with Asher King Abramson, a top growth marketer who has worked with 100+ successful startups. Submit your landing page and ads beforehand for a chance to receive feedback live onstage.

A brand personified with Anna Pickard

Anna Pickard is the head of Brand Communications at Slack, responsible for establishing the company’s voice and tone. Hear Anna share how to bring together the various functions of your organization to create a distinctly unique brand voice that engages and delights customers.

Early Stage goes down July 21 and 22. You don’t want to miss it. Tickets are almost gone — register for your ticket here.

( function() { var func = function() { var iframe = document.getElementById('wpcom-iframe-02477ba73f2ce7104ba54bd838810d2a') if ( iframe ) { iframe.onload = function() { iframe.contentWindow.postMessage( { 'msg_type': 'poll_size', 'frame_id': 'wpcom-iframe-02477ba73f2ce7104ba54bd838810d2a' }, "https:\/\/tcprotectedembed.com" ); } } // Autosize iframe var funcSizeResponse = function( e ) { var origin = document.createElement( 'a' ); origin.href = e.origin; // Verify message origin if ( 'tcprotectedembed.com' !== origin.host ) return; // Verify message is in a format we expect if ( 'object' !== typeof e.data || undefined === e.data.msg_type ) return; switch ( e.data.msg_type ) { case 'poll_size:response': var iframe = document.getElementById( e.data._request.frame_id ); if ( iframe && '' === iframe.width ) iframe.width = '100%'; if ( iframe && '' === iframe.height ) iframe.height = parseInt( e.data.height ); return; default: return; } } if ( 'function' === typeof window.addEventListener ) { window.addEventListener( 'message', funcSizeResponse, false ); } else if ( 'function' === typeof window.attachEvent ) { window.attachEvent( 'onmessage', funcSizeResponse ); } } if (document.readyState === 'complete') { func.apply(); /* compat for infinite scroll */ } else if ( document.addEventListener ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', func, false ); } else if ( document.attachEvent ) { document.attachEvent( 'onreadystatechange', func ); } } )();

Call it what you will — startup bootcamp, founders’ masterclass or the mother of all how-to events — we’re just days away from TC Early Stage 2020. But you don’t have to wait another minute to start making essential connections. CrunchMatch, our AI-powered networking platform, is now open for business.

Wait up. You don’t have a pass yet? Crikey! Buy your Early Stage pass here, start networking now and get a head start on driving your business forward. Then on July 21-22, tune in to your choice of more than 50 expert-led sessions designed to help early-stage founders succeed and thrive. Topics cover crucial building blocks that span the startup ecosystem. More on those in a minute.

Back to CrunchMatch. There’s no easier way to find and connect with like-minded Early Stage attendees — no matter where they’re located. A new, supercharged AI algorithm makes matching and recommendations even faster and more precise — and the more you use it the smarter it gets.

Keep your networking relaxed and organized — schedule 1:1 video meetings with investors or other founders; meet the people who can help you grow your business.

The Early Stage sessions cover crucial information, along with plenty of tips, tricks and advice, that early-stage founders need to know — like fundraising, tech stack and growth marketing to term sheet construction, recruitment, product management and PR. Here’s just one example, and you can see what else we have waiting for you on the agenda.

The business of bootstrapping: Webflow was bootstrapped and profitable for seven years before co-founder and CEO, Vlad Magdalin trusted Accel’s Arun Mathew as their first institutional investor. Hear how Magdalin designed a sustainable, high-growth business without institutional investment, and the surprising factors that led him to take VC investment.

We’re limiting session capacity to keep interaction and information flowing. Sign up fast for the topics you want most because some sessions are already at capacity. When the conference ends, all ticket holders will have access to a video archive of every sessions.

TC Early Stage 2020 sessions take place from July 21 – 22, but CrunchMatch is open right now. Register for TC Early Stage, then go fill out your profile and start expanding your network — and your empire — today.

( function() { var func = function() { var iframe = document.getElementById('wpcom-iframe-02477ba73f2ce7104ba54bd838810d2a') if ( iframe ) { iframe.onload = function() { iframe.contentWindow.postMessage( { 'msg_type': 'poll_size', 'frame_id': 'wpcom-iframe-02477ba73f2ce7104ba54bd838810d2a' }, "https:\/\/tcprotectedembed.com" ); } } // Autosize iframe var funcSizeResponse = function( e ) { var origin = document.createElement( 'a' ); origin.href = e.origin; // Verify message origin if ( 'tcprotectedembed.com' !== origin.host ) return; // Verify message is in a format we expect if ( 'object' !== typeof e.data || undefined === e.data.msg_type ) return; switch ( e.data.msg_type ) { case 'poll_size:response': var iframe = document.getElementById( e.data._request.frame_id ); if ( iframe && '' === iframe.width ) iframe.width = '100%'; if ( iframe && '' === iframe.height ) iframe.height = parseInt( e.data.height ); return; default: return; } } if ( 'function' === typeof window.addEventListener ) { window.addEventListener( 'message', funcSizeResponse, false ); } else if ( 'function' === typeof window.attachEvent ) { window.attachEvent( 'onmessage', funcSizeResponse ); } } if (document.readyState === 'complete') { func.apply(); /* compat for infinite scroll */ } else if ( document.addEventListener ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', func, false ); } else if ( document.attachEvent ) { document.attachEvent( 'onreadystatechange', func ); } } )();

As Zoom and Microsoft and Google hammer it out for video-chat hegemony, startups are developing apps and services that either add on or compete with the major players.

There hasn’t been enough activity — yet — to call it a boom, but there’s enough going on to warrant our attention. Call it a boomlet, if you will, of startups looking to ride the wave of demand that video-conferencing has seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Exchange explores startups, markets and money. You can read it every morning on Extra Crunch, or receive it for free in your inbox. Sign up for The Exchange newsletter, which drops Saturdays starting July 25.

The big players are not sitting still. Zoom has spent lots of 2020 on platform security after a surge in popularity exposed some frayed ends. Google has been working to make Meet, its own video-chat service, better and easier to find. And Microsoft has been hammering Teams’s abilities into stronger form as it uses the same product to fend off both Slack and Zoom, which is a tall order.

Other giants are getting into the mix. Reliance Jio, the Indian telecom subsidiary of megacorp Reliance, recently launched JioMeet, which has turned heads for looking rather similar to Zoom. It also quickly raced to millions of downloads. (That Google just put billions into JioMeet’s parent is an odd twist in the video-chatting wars; Google has effectively helped fund a competitor in the country, it appears.)

TechCrunch’s parent company, Verizon, recently bought BlueJeans, giving the American telecom company its own video chatting service. (It’s also eyeing the Indian market.)

But that’s only part of the action. More recently we’ve seen interesting rounds for video-chat software startups Macro and Mmhmm. And we’ve seen money go into companies like Daily.co, which want to let any company bake video-chatting capabilities into their service. And Y Combinator-backed Sidekick has been in the press lately, after building a hardware solution in mind for today’s remote workers who need video comms.

An upstart boomlet, then, amid a war of the majors. But should we have expected anything less from the huge wave of demand that COVID-19 kicked off? Zoom was growing quickly before the pandemic. Now the public company and a host of rivals, big and small, all want a larger slice of an expanding pie.

Video-conferencing startups

The two most interesting recent venture rounds for video-conferencing startups are those belonging to Mmhmm and Macro.

Sramana Mitra: Is there an example of what cannot be done without technology? Chini Krishnan: Absolutely. Let’s take a couple of examples. A big part of what consumers need to navigate is decision...

___

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 495th FREE online 1Mby1M mentoring roundtable on Thursday, July 23, 2020, at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT/5 p.m. CEST/8:30 p.m. India IST. If you are a serious...

___

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Dan Roselli, Founder and Managing Partner, CFV Ventures, a North Carolina firm focused on FinTech and InsureTech. What’s The Move? As for...

___

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.

This week was full of news of all sorts, but as we recorded, both Danny and Natasha “not Tash” Mascarenhas were still locked out of their Twitter accounts after a proletariat revolution on the social platform saw the ruling Blue Checkmark Class forced into silence. That’s not really what happened, but it sounds better than what actually went down at Big Social.

Anyway, Twitter accounts or not, the three of us gathered to parse through a wave of news:

The new TechCrunch List that Danny spent a very long time compiling has arrived! It’s live! You can find it here. It is good.And, if you want to know which VCs were even more fêted by founders, head here. (If you are irked that you did not make either list, please email Danny, not the show!)Moving on, Google is putting billions into Reliance Jio after every other company in the world did the same. Google is buying a bit less of the Indian telecom than the search giant, but between the two of them it’s been more than $10 billion in dealmaking. Perhaps Reliance Jio is done raising money? At last?Udemy is hunting up more capital at a higher valuation, reports say, providing Natasha with the perfect moment to let us know what is going with edtech.Turning to funding rounds, I was hyped about the Macro round that TechCrunch covered this week, Danny wanted to chat about The Browser Company’s similarly sized $5 million round and Natasha talked us through LiteBoxer’s combined $6 million in new capital.Closing, we talked about IPOs for a hot second. The IPO window is open, and now that nCino and GoHealth have gone public, we want to know who is next.

It was a lovely time and there is a bit of show news. Namely that Equity is coming back to YouTube either this week or the next. So if you want to see us talk, soon you will be able to! Again!

Oh, and follow the show on Twitter. If you can, that is.

According to a recent research report, the global enterprise collaboration market is estimated to grow to $69.93 billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 15.23%. Remote working conditions will further accelerate...

___

Sramana Mitra: Who funded you? Jon Hirschtick: The first investor to commit was Atlas Venture. Axel, my co-founder from my first company, is the Managing Director of Bolt and an associate at Atlas...

___

Can one minute really make a difference in your startup success? If we’re talking about your 60-second pitch (and we are), then heck yeah! A crisp, concise and compelling pitch opens doors to opportunity, and we’re here to help you pump up your pitch.

Join us online for the next Pitchers & Pitches competition on July 23 at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT, where you’ll hear rapid-fire pitches from five Digital Startup Alley exhibitors who will be participating at Disrupt this year. The five early-stage startups will take the virtual stage and present their best pitch to a panel of highly qualified judges — TechCrunch editors who coach Startup Battlefield competitors and leading VCs. Seriously, who wouldn’t want feedback from pros like that?

After each pitch, the judges provide the founders with an invaluable critique, tips and advice. Even if you don’t pitch, you can apply what you’ve learned to take your elevator pitch to the next level. Plus, the viewing audience gets to choose the best pitch of the session. The winning startup gets a consulting session with cela, a company that connects early-stage startups to accelerators and incubators that can help scale their businesses.

This is also an opportunity for the TechCrunch community to try out our new virtual Disrupt platform before we go live in September.

You’ll have an opportunity to check out some of our new features, like:

Watch and interact with the pitch-off event on the virtual main stage.Meet and video network with other attendees.Connect with the five pitchers in their virtual booth in the startup expo.

Note: Anyone can attend Pitchers & Pitches, but only companies exhibiting in Digital Startup Alley during Disrupt 2020 are eligible to pitch. There’s still time to be considered for the July 23 pitch-off — if you act quickly and purchase a Disrupt Digital Startup Alley Package. We randomly select the startups that get to participate, and we’ll announce them — and the judges — on July 22.

Register here to attend for free. Help your 60-second pitch open more doors to more opportunity.

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at Disrupt 2020? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

We know that the coronavirus has brought unprecedented attention to the edtech market, but now what? What happens when schools are no longer clambering toward an overnight solution? When the surges slow? When our world reopens and there doesn’t need to be a full-suite of at-home solutions for kids and parents?

As the next wave of edtech companies are being built to address these novel use cases, investors are looking for solutions that aren’t simply pandemic-era important. To some, that means skipping the latest videoconferencing platform play and maybe cutting a check to a digital-only university. To others, it means looking for the platform that will educate a diverse range of users, especially the unemployed.

A spree of recent consolidation within the market shows that there is a need for a better plumbing system in the fragmented world of edtech.

We turned to eight investors in the space to understand which subcategories are shaping up to be the future, following up on our first survey last fall when the world was very different, and another in early April when less was understood about the pandemic. Our goal here was to find nonobvious ways innovation is living within the noisier-than-ever sector. The result? Intel on nascent trends, deal-makers and what adaption looks like amid a time of uncertainty.

Today you’ll get a deep dive on the nerdy stuff from the following investors:

Reach Capital’s Jennifer Carolan, Shauntel Garvey and Chian GongIan Chiu, Owl VenturesJan Lynn-Matern, Emerge EducationDavid Eichler, TCVRebecca Kaden, Union Square VenturesJomayra Herrera, Cowboy Ventures

Investors differed on which subcategories benefitted the most, but it’s clear that the pandemic didn’t lift up the entirety of the edtech space. One investor noted that the pandemic made them even less interested in ISAs, while other venture capitalists noted how valuable the financing instrument is now, more than ever before.

We got into some of the big themes that have risen in the past few months: online learning, re-skilling, ISAs, virtual universities and where each investor draws their line around these categories.

A common theme throughout the commentary now is that the opportunity presented by coronavirus is not being met with complacency, but instead a push to grow better. Investors talked about innovation needs to account for childcare, cost, digital infrastructure, and the addressable population, pandemic or not.

I think that’s enough teasing. Now, onto the answers.

Third-party sellers are the dominant driver of sales on Amazon’s marketplace, accounting for 58% of its total (and growing). We know that the pandemic, ironically, has been good for Amazon, which has reported net sales in Q1 up by 26% year-over-year, given that much of the world has reverted to ordering online. However, the payment terms offered are far from convenient. Amazon pays sellers approximately every two weeks and reserves a significant amount for possible refunds. Unfortunately, this hinders the ability of small companies to invest in growth and purchase more inventory. But of course, Amazon holds the keys to this particular car.

Payability is one such startup that provides financing to suppliers in Amazon’s marketplace, although its fees are computed on gross sales, not net receivables from Amazon.

InstaPay is a startup that has launched a new product that pays Amazon sellers on a daily basis. The new offering comes at a time when Amazon sellers are experiencing an enormous load due to the pandemic, but the Amazon marketplace terms have not sped up to allow them to meet demand.

The current two-week lag time creates a gap in cash-flow — because sellers usually have to pay their vendors in advance. InstaPay’s new product potentially solves this problem, allowing sellers to be able to earn more, even with the added InstaPay fees.

The service funds 50% to 80% of sales and charges 1% to 2% of sales volume per funding. When Amazon pays the vendor, InstaPay automatically deducts the outstanding balance. This means small companies can invest in growth and purchase more inventory.

Sam Bokher, COO, said in a statement: “Due to the global lockdown, people have ramped up online purchases and more companies have flocked to Amazon and other eCommerce platforms to sell online. We launched this new service to provide businesses with an opportunity to grow simultaneously with the marketplace, rather than with a two-week delay.”

The product was inspired by an unlikely industry. Prior to this, InstaPay had been providing transportation and trucking companies with working capital, with flat-rate accounts receivable financing and same-day payment.

Shared electric moped startup Revel received a permit that will allow it to operate in San Francisco, beginning in August.

The startup will start with a fleet of 432 mopeds featuring a new paint scheme and a more powerful engine to help riders get up and over the city’s infamously steep hills. For now, the service area will cover certain neighborhoods of San Francisco, including Cow Hollow, Dogpatch, the Financial District, Golden Gate Heights, Haight-Ashbury, the Mission District, Outer Mission, Pacific Heights, the Richmond District, the Tenderloin and the Castro. The service area will expand in the “near future,” Revel said. 

Only licensed drivers with the Revel app can rent the mopeds. Each Revel can carry up to two riders, is limited to local streets and is capped at a speed of 30 miles per hour. Revel rides will cost $1 per person to start, followed by $0.39 per minute to ride.

Each Revel moped is equipped with two U.S. DOT-certified helmets that must be worn at all times. The company also provides third-party liability insurance automatically to all riders.

Revel, founded in March 2018 by Frank Reig and Paul Suhey, started with a pilot program in Brooklyn and later expanded to Queens. Revel has been on a fast-paced growth track, expanding to Austin, Miami and Washington, D.C in its first 18 months of operation. In January, the company launched in Oakland. The company also operates in sections of Manhattan, as well as south and central Bronx.

Revel is a bit different than some of the shared mobility startups out there. The company doesn’t rely on gig economy workers to charge its mopeds — a method used by e-scooter companies like Bird. Instead, Revel has full-time workers that maintain the mopeds and swap out the batteries as needed.

The company said it will begin hiring workers in San Francisco once it launches in August. Revel said it is participating in the First Source Hiring Program to find local employees.

The startup raised $27.6 million in capital last October in a Series A round led by Ibex Investors — funds required to fuel its expansion plans. The equity round included newcomer Toyota AI Ventures and further investments from Blue Collective, Launch Capital and Maniv Mobility.