Wheels, a dockless bike company founded by the same brothers who started the national dog walking platform Wag, has chosen Atlanta as its third city to launch in, according to Patch.
Each bike is customized with a foam seat, swappable replacement parts, built-in Bluetooth speakers, a charging station for your phone and large 14" wheels, according to the company's website. Users will be able to unlock a patent-pending smart helmet from the back of every bike through the Wheels app. The helmets are equipped with removable, biodegradable hygienic headliners, allowing them to be shared and returned with each ride.
Wheels first launched on the West Coast in San Diego and Los Angeles. Atlanta is the company's first East Coast city.
Wheels is a West Hollywood, Calif.-based dockless mobility company backed by Tenaya Capital, Bullpen Capital, Crosscut Capital, 3L Capital and Naval Ravikant. The startup most recently raised $37 million from investors in January.
The company also recently added executives from Bird, Lyft and Uber to its management team in January. The newest additions include Ben Shaken, who joined as chief product officer from Lyft where he was director of product, Marco McCottry as COO, who previously served as an executive at Uber where he ran the Midwest business, and most recently led North American operations for Bird.
The company is currently looking for Wheels transporters, who can earn money by relocating bikes to a location where Wheels handles upkeep and battery swaps.
The founding brothers, Josh and Jon Viner, also started dog walking app Wag!, which has raised nearly $400 million---most recently raising $300 million in venture capital in January 2018.
