Electric scooter sharing firm Wind begins operating in Barcelona

Electric scooter sharing company Wind, which was set up in Berlin in 2017, has landed in Barcelona, where it has also moved its main headquarters.

The firm's move to the Catalan capital comes after it recently raised 50 million dollars (€44.6m) in funding to expand the business in Europe.

The company will start operating with 50 electric scooters and 25 docking stations, with hopes to expand the number of vehicles to 200 by the end of the year.

With a council ban on using public places for stations, Wind has reached deals with private spaces, such as the UPC university campus and Saba car parks.  

After downloading Wind's app, users can find and activate the scooters, and then use them for 20 cents a minute. The price includes insurance and the free use of helmets.

Wind's head of operations in southern Europe, Gerard Sellarès, told the Catalan News Agency: "We chose Barcelona because it is a start-up hub in Europe."

The firm has moved its management team and its operations and tech departments to Barcelona, leaving its legal, financial and customer services departments in Germany.

With 20 employees in the Catalan capital, Wind intends to double its staff in the next few months, mainly with technicians, and data analysis and web development professionals.

Sellarès added that Barcelona is also ideal because of "the city's commitment to mobility and becoming well connected to the airport and the other European cities in which we operate."