Popwheels

What Popwheels does

PopWheels operates a fire-safe e-bike battery swap network targeting New York City's gig-economy delivery workers, who face a documented lithium-ion battery fire crisis (277 battery fires recorded in NYC in 2024). The company deploys FDNY-approved outdoor battery swap cabinets containing proprietary built-in fire-suppression systems designed to extinguish thermal-runaway events. A closed-loop battery-as-a-service model means PopWheels owns, certifies (UL), and maintains all batteries in-house, removing hazardous charging from residential apartments and shifting it to controlled outdoor infrastructure. UL-certified batteries are compatible with Arrow 9, Arrow 10, and Whizz e-bikes — the dominant fleets used by NYC deliveristas.

The company's revenue model is subscription-based: delivery workers pay a recurring fee for unlimited 24/7 battery swaps, with no upfront battery purchase, maintenance, or charging-equipment costs, positioning the offering as delivering more than $500 in annual savings per rider. Distribution combines a self-serve mobile app (iOS/Android), direct enterprise partnerships with Uber (Hudson Square hub, trade-in sponsorship), and utility/residential collaborations with Con Edison and Settlement Housing Fund (Ebbets Field Apartments). GTM is community-led, anchored by relationships with the Street Vendor Project and former delivery riders on staff. A second vertical — powering NYC food carts with swappable e-bike batteries in place of gasoline generators — launched as a pilot in January 2026 at cost parity with ~$10/day fuel expense, with a planned summer 2026 citywide rollout via the Street Vendor Project partnership. Geographic expansion began with Canada's first battery-swap hub in Toronto in April 2026.

PopWheels has raised approximately $6.6M in total funding, including a $2.3M seed round and an approximately $4M follow-on by December 2025, plus a $314,980 technical-assistance grant from New Energy New York. Anchor enterprise and government partners include Uber, Con Edison, NYC DOT (which ran the 12,000+ swap pilot achieving a 35% reduction in at-home charging), Newlab, and Arrow/Whizz e-bike platforms. The company is founder-led by CEO Baruch Herzfeld (bicycle and safety advocate with prior mobility ventures) and President David Hammer (former Google DV360 founder, Emissary founder, and Bloomberg/Hawkfish product lead), supported by an 11-50 person team based in Brooklyn, NY.

Name

Popwheels

Legal name

PopWheels, Inc.

Website

https://popwheels.club

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PopWheels operates an FDNY-approved, fire-safe e-bike battery swap network in NYC, serving gig-economy delivery workers via a subscription model that replaces at-home lithium-ion battery charging, with expanding reach into food-cart power and Toronto.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

E-Bike Battery Swap Services

akta.pro primary industry

Micromobility Charging & Battery Swapping Services (THADAGAL)

Keywords

• Battery swap network
• E-bike battery service
• Urban mobility infrastructure
• Battery-as-a-service
• Fire-safe charging

Headquarters

HQ city

Bronx

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Battery-as-a-Service Subscription: Delivery workers and e-bike riders pay a subscription fee for unlimited battery swap access 24/7. Riders check out fully charged batteries from cabinets and return depleted ones for fresh swaps. No upfront costs, maintenance fees, or battery purchase required for customers. The subscription costs less than riders currently spend on batteries, enabling approximately $500+ in annual savings.
2. Food Cart Battery Power Service: PopWheels provides approximately four e-bike batteries per food cart per day to replace gasoline generators, operating at roughly cost parity with the $10/day food cart operators spend on gasoline. A new revenue stream leveraging the existing battery swap infrastructure for adjacent use cases.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

PopWheels operates a fire-safe e-bike battery swap subscription service, providing delivery workers 24/7 access to FDNY-approved outdoor cabinets where they can exchange depleted batteries for fully charged, UL-certified ones compatible with Arrow 9, Arrow 10, and Whizz e-bikes. The closed-loop battery-as-a-service model eliminates home charging, cutting residential lithium-ion fire risk. A mobile app manages station location and battery checkout, and a pilot food-cart power service extends the same batteries to replace gasoline generators for NYC street vendors.

Product overview

PopWheels offers a battery-as-a-service platform centered on its fire-safe battery swap network, consisting of PopWheels Cabinets (FDNY-approved outdoor charging stations), PopWheels Batteries (UL-certified swappable batteries), and the PopWheels App (mobile application for station locator and battery checkout). The company serves delivery workers in NYC with a subscription model that eliminates the need for workers to own or charge batteries at home. The core portfolio includes the battery swap network as the primary offering, with additional modules like the Food Cart Power System that repurposes e-bike batteries to replace gasoline generators for mobile food vendors. The company has expanded internationally with Canada's first battery-swapping hub in Toronto.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fire-Safe E-Bike Battery Swap Network (Subscription) Subscription-based 24/7 access to a network of FDNY-approved, outdoor battery swap cabinets (30+ across Manhattan) where delivery workers exchange depleted e-bike batteries for fully charged, UL-certified ones compatible with Arrow 9, Arrow 10, and Whizz e-bikes. Includes no upfront battery cost and aims to eliminate residential lithium-ion battery charging.
• PopWheels App Mobile application (iOS and Android) that enables subscribers to locate nearby fire-safe swap cabinets, check out batteries on demand, and manage their swap subscription and account.
• Food Cart Power System (Pilot) Pilot service that delivers approximately four swappable e-bike batteries (~5 kWh/day) per food cart to replace gasoline generators for refrigeration, lighting, and equipment. Operates at cost parity with approximately $10/day in gasoline, with planned summer 2026 rollout across thousands of NYC food carts via the Street Vendor Project partnership.

Quantifiable outcome

• 35% reduction in residential battery charging among PopWheels users
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• UbercoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 13 May 2025PopWheels and Uber partnered to open America's first public battery swapping hub in Hudson Square, NYC. Uber sponsored battery trade-ins and provided resources for the launch. The first 50 delivery workers who trade in old batteries receive six free months of PopWheels services. Uber acts as a key channel partner reaching delivery workers on its platform.
• Con EdisoncoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 13 May 2025Con Edison connected PopWheels's battery-swapping hub to the electric grid, meeting the clean energy needs of customers increasingly turning to e-micromobility. Con Edison has been supporting the expansion of FDNY-official hubs to ensure e-bike and e-scooter riders have access to safe, reliable charging. Also backed the Ebbets Field Apartments battery swap hub.
• NewlabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNewlab is a big supporter of the PopWheels team, providing support as they commercialize their battery-swapping technology. Sydnee Grushack, Director of Impact Delivery at Newlab, spoke publicly at the Hudson Square hub opening about PopWheels bringing valuable public benefit to the battery safety challenge in urban mobility.
• Street Vendor ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Street Vendor Project (non-profit representing NYC delivery workers) partnered with PopWheels to scale e-bike battery-powered food cart service citywide. This partnership enables access to thousands of food cart operators and leverages the organization's trusted relationships with the delivery worker community.
• Settlement Housing FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPopWheels and the Settlement Housing Fund launched a first-ever partnership to fight battery fires in affordable housing, deploying battery swap infrastructure in residential buildings to keep hazardous batteries out of apartments and reduce fire risk for tenants and building owners.
• Arrow (e-bike platform)coreTechnology or IntegrationPopWheels supports Arrow 9 and Arrow 10 e-bikes through its battery swap network, with compatible battery packs that delivery riders can swap at any PopWheels cabinet station.
• Whizz (e-bike platform)coreTechnology or IntegrationPopWheels supports Whizz e-bikes through its battery swap network, with compatible battery packs that delivery riders can swap at any PopWheels cabinet station.
• NYC Department of Transportation (DOT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYC DOT ran a public e-bike charging pilot with PopWheels that achieved over 12,000 battery swaps and a 35% reduction in at-home charging. The pilot was extended until February 2025, and new DOT rules now allow battery cabinets on public sidewalks enabling citywide expansion.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Sun Mobility: India-based battery swap network for electric two- and three-wheelers, partnering with OEMs to offer interoperable swap solutions. Comparable in network-of-stations model for light EVs, though India-focused.
• Bounce Infinity: India-based electric scooter company with a swappable battery network targeting last-mile delivery and gig workers. Highly comparable customer segment (delivery riders) and use case, though operating in a different geographic market with different regulatory context.
• Battery Smart: India's largest battery swap network for electric two- and three-wheelers, with hundreds of swap stations serving delivery riders. Highly comparable target customer (gig delivery workers) and operational model.

Broad incumbents

• Yadea: Largest Chinese manufacturer of electric two-wheelers, with integrated battery swap stations across Asia. Comparable in combining OEM vehicles with a captive swap infrastructure, though at global manufacturing scale.
• Honda Power Pack Exchanger e: Honda's OEM-led swappable battery program for electric motorcycles, scooters, and micro-EVs. Comparable in concept (mobile batteries + swap stations) but backed by a major OEM and focused on Honda-branded vehicles rather than multi-OEM compatibility.
• Nio Power (NIO): Battery-as-a-service network for NIO electric passenger vehicles in China and Europe. Operates a comparable subscription swap model but for cars; demonstrates how a swap network can scale to thousands of stations with strong operational efficiency.

Direct peers

• Gogoro: Taiwan-based pioneer of battery swapping for electric two-wheelers, operating the world's largest scooter battery swap network with millions of swaps. Most directly comparable to PopWheels for the battery-as-a-service subscription model targeting urban riders, though at vastly larger scale and on scooters rather than e-bikes.
• Swobbee: Berlin-based battery swap network operator for light electric vehicles (e-bikes, e-scooters, e-mopeds) across Europe. Closest direct peer to PopWheels in terms of micromobility target market and subscription-based swap cabinet model.

Emerging players

• Ample: San Francisco-based modular battery swap startup for electric vehicles, focused on fleet deployments. Similar closed-loop battery ownership and subscription economics, though targeting cars and fleets rather than micromobility.

Others

• Specialized: Major premium e-bike OEM with integrated battery and charging strategy. Adjacent peer as an e-bike OEM whose fleet adoption decisions (and potential in-house swap programs) directly affect PopWheels' addressable market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Popwheels