May 1, 2019

Scoop: e-Bike startup led by mobile veterans raises $20 million

Bond Mobility CEO Raoul Stockle on a bike at the micromobility summit. Photo: Bond Mobility

Some prominent names from the mobile world have teamed up to form Bond Mobility, an e-bike startup that has raised $20 million from backers including Japanese car parts giant Denso.

The bigger picture: Bond enters an already crowded micromobility market filled with bike-sharing and scooter startups. To stand out form the pack — and compete against Uber-owned Jump — Bond is betting on a fast, dockless e-bike capable of traveling up to 30 miles per hour.

Former Cyanogen CEO Kirt McMaster is Bond's chief business officer, while prominent analyst Horace Dedieu is a co-founder and chief strategy officer.

Bond is actually a rebranding and broadening of an existing e-bike venture, Smide, that has been up and running in Zurich, Switzerland since 2016.

Unlike rival bike-sharing services, McMaster says Bond competes more with cars than scooters or walking.

"Jump does not substitute a car," McMaster said in an interview. "This substitutes a car."

What's next: McMaster says the company hopes to operate in Silicon Valley, Southern California and a few other West Coast cities.

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U.S. coronavirus updates: Death toll hits 3,900

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The U.S. death toll from the novel coronavirus has just hit 3,900, per Johns Hopkins data.

Details: Tuesday night's grim milestone came hours after President Trump said it's "going to be a very painful two weeks," with projections indicating the novel coronavirus could kill 100,000–240,000 Americans — even with strict social distancing guidelines in place. "They are going to be facing a war zone," he said of medical workers.

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World coronavirus updates: UN warns of recession with "no parallel" to recent past

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens and confirmed plus presumptive cases from the CDC

The novel coronavirus pandemic is the "greatest test" the world has faced together since the formation of the United Nations just after the Second World War ended in 1945, UN chief António Guterres said Tuesday.

The big picture: COVID-19 cases surged past 858,000 and the death toll exceeded 42,000 Tuesday night, per Johns Hopkins data. Italy reported more than 12,000 deaths.

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 857,957 — Total deaths: 42,139 — Total recoveries: 178,091.
U.S.: Leads the world in confirmed cases. Total confirmed cases as of 10 p.m. ET: 188,547 — Total deaths: 3,899 — Total recoveries: 7,068.
Business updates: Should you pay your rent or mortgage during the coronavirus pandemic? Find out if you are protected under the CARES Act.
Public health updates: More than 400 long-term care facilities across the U.S. report patients with coronavirus — Older adults and people with underlying health conditions are more at risk, new data shows.
Federal government latest: President Trump said the next two weeks would be "very painful," with projections indicating the virus could kill 100,000–240,000 Americans.
Coronavirus in custody: Inmates in all U.S. federal prisons are set to enter a 14-day quarantine on April 1. A federal judge on Tuesday ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release 10 detained immigrants who are at risk of contracting COVID-19 while in confinement.
U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt: Captain of nuclear aircraft carrier docked in Guam pleaded with the U.S. Navy for more resources after more than 100 members of his crew tested positive.
What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

Subscribe to Mike Allen's Axios AM to follow our coronavirus coverage each morning from your inbox.

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