May 18, 2025 • 20 mins
The urban mobility landscape is changing, and ARIO stands at the forefront of this revolution. Founded just last year with a bold vision to transform how we move through cities, ARIO has quickly established itself as not just another scooter company, but a technology-driven solution to long-standing problems in the micro-mobility space.
Mitchell Price, Head of Government Relations for ARIO, reveals how their three-wheeled scooters incorporate AI-powered technology that's solving the issues that have plagued e-scooters since they entered Australian cities in 2017. Their innovative approach includes sensors that detect double-riding, remote parking capabilities that allow operations teams to move improperly parked scooters, and speed-limiting technology that automatically slows vehicles in designated areas. Perhaps most impressively, ARIO's $50 penalty for unreturned helmets has created unprecedented compliance with safety requirements.
As ARIO looks toward potential expansion into Canberra, Price emphasizes their community-first philosophy and readiness to adapt to local needs rather than imposing a standardized approach. For businesses considering expansion into new markets, he offers valuable insights about resilience, patience, and the importance of building social license through genuine community engagement.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello and welcome to the Canberra Business Podcast.
I'm Greg Harford, your hostfrom the Canberra Business
Chamber, and today I'm talkingto Mitchell Price, the Head of
Government Relations for REO,one of our members.
You might have seen them withtheir scooters at our recent
Welcome Back to Businesscocktail function.
Mitch, welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for having me.
Greg Tell us a little bit aboutArio.
(00:31):
Who is Ario?
You're not actually here inCanberra at the moment, but it's
great that you've joined theCanberra business community.
What's it all about?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, ario was formed in 2024 on the back of an idea
that we can do micro mobilitybetter.
Micro mobility and activetransport modes of e-scooters
and e-bikes have been inAustralia since 2017.
There's been differentiterations there's been push
(00:58):
bikes, there's been e-bikes andnow we've seen e-scooters.
And now we're seeing the nextwave being REO.
We were formed with the ideathat technology through AI with
the brains of smart people ingood cities, can get people out
of cars onto different modes oftransport, and that is what
(01:20):
REO's mission is.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
So e-scooters have a pretty bad rap right.
They're left around the placelying down people riding them
unsafely on the footpaths.
Do we really need anotherscooter brand coming into
Canberra?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Well, reo is not just a scooter brand.
Reo is its own technology andthe next wave of this industry.
Its own technology and the nextwave of this industry REO
brings a whole new set oftechnology advancements that the
industry's never seen before.
The issues that have plaguedthe industry for years now
(01:57):
inappropriately parking scootersbeing pushed on the side,
helmets not with the devices,people not wearing helmets,
people double riding, people notwearing helmets, people double
riding, people not parkingproperly, people zooming around
cities Today I was in LondonCircuit and saw firsthand myself
just the chaos that the currente-scooter brands are causing.
(02:19):
Here in Canberra.
We've solved those issues andwe've solved that through two
things One, having the rightpeople in the right roles We've
got some of the best minds inthe business that have joined
REO when our team led by AdamRossetto is just forming really
strong relationships acrosscommunities.
(02:40):
And secondly, our technology.
We can detect if there are twopeople riding an ARIO, and that
is through sensors on the feet.
We can detect the speed thatpeople are going and have a
number of slow zones operatingin markets where we are now,
where if an ARIO enters thatzone, it will slow down to a
(03:02):
more responsible pace.
We also have technology thathas been rolled out for helmets.
I travel around the regionaustralia, new zealand every
city every week and I spothundreds of helmets not on
devices, our helmet.
If you don't return the helmetat the end of your trip, you get
(03:24):
charged $50.
You'll do it once, but youwon't do it twice.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So there's a real kind of big brother thing going
on here, right, because you'remaking sure that you're keeping
an eye on your products.
Is that intrusive from aprivacy point of view?
No.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Look from our perspective, safety of our users
is paramount and safety of thecommunity is something that
comes with no non-negotiables.
We have worked with some of thesmartest minds in the legal
space to ensure that our vehiclemeets the privacy standards
across Australia.
We have worked with regulators.
I first brought e-scooters toAustralia in 2018.
(04:07):
So some people, when I meetthem, either love me or they
hate me, because I'm the guythat they either have an issue
with, with e-scooters.
However, when I joined ARIO, Iknew that the technology-first
approach to ensuring that theproblems that cities have are
being solved is at the forefrontof what we're doing.
(04:28):
We've always seen in citiesscooters that are parked
inappropriately across thedriveway, across an access point
, and you're just fed up withseeing them on the ground.
Well, because we have threewheels, our device doesn't have
a kickstand, so the likelihoodof them being pushed on their
side is next to none and we havea remote parking function.
(04:50):
This is game changing.
It is operated by our teamremotely here in our warehouses
in Canberra, in cities where weoperate, and that allows the
scooter to be moved out ofharm's way.
Even just a slight distance canbe changed to move that scooter
out of the footpath which makesit compliant for people with
(05:11):
disabilities, and we've seenthat support from people like
Vision Australia.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
So that's mind-blowing really in terms of
that functionality.
How is this working?
There's a lot of tech built inhere.
You can check how fast peopleare going where they've parked
all that sort of stuff have.
Have you literally got sort ofteams of people standing at
banks of computer monitors?
Very similar.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah, that's bang on, greg.
We've got people all around theregion.
Here in Australia and in NewZealand.
Our operations are all local.
So if we get the chance to behere in Canberra in the next
iteration of micro-mobility,here in the Territory we will
(05:55):
have locals that will be runningthese operations just like we
do in our active markets now.
So where are you operating now?
So we first launched with ourfirst market being in Townsville
, and that was a 250 scootermarket or REO market.
We then launched our e-bike,which has just taken off.
(06:18):
Sydney-siders tourists,visitors who visit Sydney, are
absolutely falling in love withour e-bike.
I love our e-bike and I'm not abike rider.
And is that a three-wheeledbike?
It's a two-wheeled bike.
Then we launched our product inChristchurch a thousand
vehicles.
So this is taking us now torunning an experienced big fleet
(06:38):
.
We now have the experience,just like any of the other
operators that are vying for theopportunity here in Canberra.
There's no reason why ARIA isnot fit, and just recently,
about two months ago, welaunched up in far north
Queensland, in Cairns, and we'reseeing great adoption rates to
our devices up there as well.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
So when are we going to see you here in Canberra?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
That's a million-dollar question, greg.
I'm in Canberra at the momentmeeting with stakeholders and
you know the Canberra BusinessChamber being one of them, and
you know you guys do great workon advocating for business and I
can say as a member it's beenvaluable the connections that
we've made through the chamber.
So thank you for your advocacyin that space.
Hopefully we're going to seethem this year.
(07:21):
We've been told that thetimeline is sometime this year.
So hopefully we're going to seesome action from the government
and actually get a new program.
Because I've been walking aroundtoday and scooting around, must
I say, and the technologythat's on the street is old,
it's four years old.
The devices are old.
(07:43):
There's helmets everywhere, noton people's heads.
There's people zooming aroundMeeting with stakeholders today
who told me they're justabsolutely fed up with them.
I can understand why.
Because when you have to dealwith pedestrians, prams,
cyclists, bins, cafe tables, arange of different hazards, and
then you have people zoomingaround on e-scooters that have
(08:06):
got four-year-old technology,then I'd also be fed up.
And this is the nation'scapital.
Why don't we have the besttechnology here?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Absolutely, because Canberra should be the jewel of
the crown in Australia.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
That's it.
Well, you know it's not thecapital for nothing and I can
tell you it's something prettyspecial riding around Lake
Burley Griffin on an REO andbeing able to ride up towards
the nation's parliament and seethat view.
Like you know, we've all doneit in the car, we might have
done it on foot, but I can tellyou it's just a whole new
(08:41):
experience.
When you see the museum, yousee the lakeside, you see the
parliament, you see all of theLake Burley Griffin itself, you
see these features that you readin a map or I picked up a
tourist map at the hotel earlierbut to see it on an REO, it's
just a whole new experience.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
So riding around the lake, which I did myself the
other day on my bike, is notnecessarily for the
faint-hearted.
How fast do the REOs go?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
So they do have a top speed of 25, but they can be
speed limited and we do that inmany cities where we have slow
zones or no parking zones, noride zones.
All of our technology is heldon our device so, unlike others
where they're pushing signals tosatellite, we're dealing with
it with our device, so instantlywe're seeing improvements with
(09:33):
how the device reacts.
So if there was a slow zonearound the lake and I'd be
encouraging one to be there,just given the number of
pedestrians and cyclists and arange of other things you would
probably look at having a slowzone so everyone can feel safe.
But today I was going 25, notalways 25, because there was a
couple of offshoots that aredirt or gravel that I had to
(09:58):
experience suddenly today, withall the upgrades that are coming
, but that experience was a lotof fun, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
So you've launched.
Sorry, when did you startlaunching?
About a year ago.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
So we started launching in late last year.
So we're sort of you know we'reseven months in now to the
business, but collectivelyaround the table we have over 50
years of experience fromdifferent companies.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
And what's been the customer response and the
reaction that you've found inother places?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, we're seeing a huge bit of feedback recently
from riders and non-riders.
People who are riding them arefeeling safe.
They feel like this is not atoy.
The technology is game-changingfor them and we're seeing some
really positive results out ofNew Zealand game-changing for
(10:54):
them and we're seeing somereally positive results out of
New Zealand.
The cohort of people that we'retargeting is not your regular
18 to 25 year old male.
We're looking at that cohort ofpeople of females and older
generations, getting them ontoan REO.
An REO is a great way to run anerrand, to visit family friends
, medical appointments, whateverit might be, and there's no
(11:15):
reason why this device cannot bea vehicle of choice for
everybody.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
And having a vehicle on the street.
I mean, I guess they get a fairbit of wear and tear and so
forth.
How long do they last for?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, the lifespan depends on the use of the
devices and the number ofdevices that we have in a city,
but we have built the REO withsustainable products in mind and
ensuring that we do our bit forCO2 and for our own emissions
by having a vehicle that issustainable in its operation and
(11:55):
sustainable in how it's used.
Of course, the more rides thedevice has just like if you're
driving your car the more wearand tear you put on it, the
sooner it's going to need a bitof a trip to the mechanic.
Nothing different to an REOrio.
Our team work on the devices atall times.
(12:16):
We have a touch point on the onthe ario to ensure that we are
looking at ways to ensure thatis safe, that the brakes are
safe, the tires are great,everything is ready to go.
Indicators working, lights arethere, the helmets are if they
need replacing, if it needs, thehelmets get cleaned by our team
.
Every time that there's an REOtouch point on that scooter,
(12:37):
which would be no more than 72hours, you would see someone
wiping the helmet, cleaning thehelmet, and also that happening
a lot regularly as well, becausewe know that the Canberra
market, if we get theopportunity to come here and the
honour to work and operate abusiness here in the nation's
(12:58):
capital.
We know that Canberrans aregoing to love it.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And so how are they charged?
Do they need to go back to adepot to be charged in a 72-hour
session?
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Well, each of the device has a swappable battery.
So when we talk aboutsustainability, that is one
thing that we've really ensuredthat we have either e-cargo
bikes and central hubs forbattery charging, but also
ensuring that our batteries haveenough battery charge in them
so we can keep the device on thestreets and we simply bring
(13:30):
around batteries, swap them out,take the battery back.
We have a state-of-the-artbattery technology which none of
our fellow industrycounterparts have, and that
technology, because of the focuson lithium-ion batteries at the
moment, we've put a lot offocus in that technology.
So we've got different sensors.
(13:50):
If the battery charging unit isoverheating, it will turn off.
Send a sensor to the operationsmanager.
It's fitted withstate-of-the-art technology to
make contact with the firedepartment and other services.
So it's a really smart piece ofkit and what that does is
ensures that batteries arecharged safely and also that
(14:11):
anything that we're doing on thestreets, that we're actually
putting a safe battery back intoour devices.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
The e-bikes, I guess is the other thing I wanted to
ask about.
You run e-bikes as well asscooters in different places.
Are you looking to bring youre-bikes here to Canberra as well
?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, look we're open to bringing all of our
different vehicle options here.
Our first preference is, ofcourse, bringing our REO and our
seated REO.
We then have the REO e-bike aswell, and that's great for
longer distance travel.
We will work with TCCSTransport City Services here in
(14:51):
Canberra to understand what itis that Kemp Barons want.
Rather than me coming here andsort of telling locals what they
need, I want to hear whatlocals want, and any of your
members that have anysuggestions on feedback they
hear this podcast.
I'd love them to get in touchwith me and provide that
feedback as well, because that'show we learn as a business.
Reo is community first.
It's all about us coming hereand trying to dictate how we
(15:15):
operate our business.
We are just like any otherbusiness here in the territory.
We want to understand locals,support local and and do that
the best way we can.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So I mean from a from a stepping back from the
details of your business, andit's a really interesting model
to be launching into multiplemarkets.
What advice would you have forbusinesses that might be looking
to take their product intoanother market where they
haven't been operating before?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
yeah, I think the first thing you need to do in
any of these situations is haveresilience.
Resilience that you're going tobe told no, far too many times
before you're going to be toldyes.
But the key is not to give up.
You know, continually engagingwith stakeholders and building
that community.
Support For me whenever I'mgoing into a new city.
(16:05):
I want to build social licence,and creating social licence is
not something that happens.
Support For me whenever I'mgoing into a new city.
I want to build social license,and creating social license is
not something that happensovernight.
If you are expanding yourbusiness into different
jurisdictions, different states,whether it's here in Australia
or internationally, intodifferent countries, you need to
understand the local lay of theland.
Pretending that you understandthat or that, if whatever
(16:26):
happened works in Canberra, it'sgoing to work in New Zealand,
it's going to work in London,it's going to work in the US
that's not the case.
Every city is unique.
Every city has its own set ofchallenges and own set of
parameters.
So resilience, patience, thewillingness to pivot quickly.
(16:47):
Sometimes your strategy is notgoing to be the right one and
you have to be able to, at amoment's time, be able to go
okay, I'm going to pivot.
I'm going to quickly reassessand I think the way we do
business now is dramaticallydifferent to how we did business
five, ten years ago.
It's ever evolving.
The customer is expecting a lotmore, the circumstances are a
(17:09):
lot tougher and earning a dollaris not easy.
So being out there, buildingthat resilience, being able to
pivot, but having the patienceand, most of all, have fun if
you don't enjoy what you do,being able to be passionate
about it when you're going tomeet new stakeholders, that can
be a challenge.
So I love what I do, I love theteam that I work with, the
(17:32):
technology that we have and I'mexcited about bringing it to the
Territory.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
So where does the technology come from?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So the technology is all built in-house.
So we have a range of team bothhere and overseas.
We are part of a global companythat is a listed company, which
is based in Singapore, but ourhead office here in Australia is
in Melbourne and every officewe have different territory,
(18:01):
regional headquarters.
We have one in Lot 14 inAdelaide, we have one in Sydney
inbd, as well as botany, whereour regional warehouse for
sydney is.
We've got locations on the goldcoast brisbane, cairns,
townsville, christchurch nextstop, canberra so, and how many
(18:22):
people would you be employing inaustralia at this point?
oh gosh, I think the last checkat the moment would be 50-plus
right now, and that doesn'tinclude our partners that we
work with so small businesses.
Whether it's printing signage,whether it is spare parts,
whether it is van hire,warehouse hire, whether it's
(18:47):
trades because every time we goto a new city we employ trades
to come in and get the warehouseelectrical right, the plumbing
right.
There's small modificationsthat we make to the warehouse
for it to be local.
We source local printing, wesource local people on the
ground.
I was saying before, one of thethings in London that the
(19:10):
London cab drivers have to do isthey have to do a test to
understand and to prove theyknow the streets of London back
to front.
So you can't be a cabbie overthere.
If you don't know, you can'tpass the test.
Nothing's different to runningan area operation.
We want to make sure the peoplewe have employed at REO know
their local community.
So if you can't pass, the test.
Nothing's different to runningan ARIO operation.
We want to make sure the peoplewe have employed at ARIO know
their local community.
So if you don't know your localarea, if you don't know the
(19:33):
different suburbs betweenGungahlin, Mitchell and the CBD,
well, that's going to be thefirst step of getting your foot
in the door with ARIO.
I'm still learning where allthese places are, but I'm sure
that towards the end of ourrelationship, even before we get
started here in Canberra, I'llbe able to quote them back to
(19:55):
you, Greg.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
We'll give you a test on that next time you're in
town.
Mitchell Price from REO.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
It's been really interesting tohear a little bit more about
REO and the journey, and I wishyou good luck as you try and
roll the product out here in theACT.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Greg, thanks for having me Just a reminder that
this episode of the CanberraBusiness Podcast has been
brought to you by the BusinessChamber with the support of
CareSuper, an industry superfund with competitive fees and
returns, exceptional service anda focus on real care.
You can learn more atcaresupercomau and don't forget
to follow us on your favoritepodcast platform for future
episodes of the CanberraBusiness Podcast.
(20:34):
We'll catch you next time.
Hello and welcome to the Canberra Business Podcast.
I'm Greg Harford, your hostfrom the Canberra Business
Chamber, and today I'm talkingto Mitchell Price, the Head of
Government Relations for REO,one of our members.
You might have seen them withtheir scooters at our recent
Welcome Back to Businesscocktail function.
Mitch, welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for having me.
Greg Tell us a little bit aboutArio.
(00:31):
Who is Ario?
You're not actually here inCanberra at the moment, but it's
great that you've joined theCanberra business community.
What's it all about?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, ario was formed in 2024 on the back of an idea
that we can do micro mobilitybetter.
Micro mobility and activetransport modes of e-scooters
and e-bikes have been inAustralia since 2017.
There's been differentiterations there's been push
(00:58):
bikes, there's been e-bikes andnow we've seen e-scooters.
And now we're seeing the nextwave being REO.
We were formed with the ideathat technology through AI with
the brains of smart people ingood cities, can get people out
of cars onto different modes oftransport, and that is what
(01:20):
REO's mission is.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
So e-scooters have a pretty bad rap right.
They're left around the placelying down people riding them
unsafely on the footpaths.
Do we really need anotherscooter brand coming into
Canberra?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Well, reo is not just a scooter brand.
Reo is its own technology andthe next wave of this industry.
Its own technology and the nextwave of this industry REO
brings a whole new set oftechnology advancements that the
industry's never seen before.
The issues that have plaguedthe industry for years now
(01:57):
inappropriately parking scootersbeing pushed on the side,
helmets not with the devices,people not wearing helmets,
people double riding, people notwearing helmets, people double
riding, people not parkingproperly, people zooming around
cities Today I was in LondonCircuit and saw firsthand myself
just the chaos that the currente-scooter brands are causing.
(02:19):
Here in Canberra.
We've solved those issues andwe've solved that through two
things One, having the rightpeople in the right roles We've
got some of the best minds inthe business that have joined
REO when our team led by AdamRossetto is just forming really
strong relationships acrosscommunities.
(02:40):
And secondly, our technology.
We can detect if there are twopeople riding an ARIO, and that
is through sensors on the feet.
We can detect the speed thatpeople are going and have a
number of slow zones operatingin markets where we are now,
where if an ARIO enters thatzone, it will slow down to a
(03:02):
more responsible pace.
We also have technology thathas been rolled out for helmets.
I travel around the regionaustralia, new zealand every
city every week and I spothundreds of helmets not on
devices, our helmet.
If you don't return the helmetat the end of your trip, you get
(03:24):
charged $50.
You'll do it once, but youwon't do it twice.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So there's a real kind of big brother thing going
on here, right, because you'remaking sure that you're keeping
an eye on your products.
Is that intrusive from aprivacy point of view?
No.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Look from our perspective, safety of our users
is paramount and safety of thecommunity is something that
comes with no non-negotiables.
We have worked with some of thesmartest minds in the legal
space to ensure that our vehiclemeets the privacy standards
across Australia.
We have worked with regulators.
I first brought e-scooters toAustralia in 2018.
(04:07):
So some people, when I meetthem, either love me or they
hate me, because I'm the guythat they either have an issue
with, with e-scooters.
However, when I joined ARIO, Iknew that the technology-first
approach to ensuring that theproblems that cities have are
being solved is at the forefrontof what we're doing.
(04:28):
We've always seen in citiesscooters that are parked
inappropriately across thedriveway, across an access point
, and you're just fed up withseeing them on the ground.
Well, because we have threewheels, our device doesn't have
a kickstand, so the likelihoodof them being pushed on their
side is next to none and we havea remote parking function.
(04:50):
This is game changing.
It is operated by our teamremotely here in our warehouses
in Canberra, in cities where weoperate, and that allows the
scooter to be moved out ofharm's way.
Even just a slight distance canbe changed to move that scooter
out of the footpath which makesit compliant for people with
(05:11):
disabilities, and we've seenthat support from people like
Vision Australia.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
So that's mind-blowing really in terms of
that functionality.
How is this working?
There's a lot of tech built inhere.
You can check how fast peopleare going where they've parked
all that sort of stuff have.
Have you literally got sort ofteams of people standing at
banks of computer monitors?
Very similar.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah, that's bang on, greg.
We've got people all around theregion.
Here in Australia and in NewZealand.
Our operations are all local.
So if we get the chance to behere in Canberra in the next
iteration of micro-mobility,here in the Territory we will
(05:55):
have locals that will be runningthese operations just like we
do in our active markets now.
So where are you operating now?
So we first launched with ourfirst market being in Townsville
, and that was a 250 scootermarket or REO market.
We then launched our e-bike,which has just taken off.
(06:18):
Sydney-siders tourists,visitors who visit Sydney, are
absolutely falling in love withour e-bike.
I love our e-bike and I'm not abike rider.
And is that a three-wheeledbike?
It's a two-wheeled bike.
Then we launched our product inChristchurch a thousand
vehicles.
So this is taking us now torunning an experienced big fleet
(06:38):
.
We now have the experience,just like any of the other
operators that are vying for theopportunity here in Canberra.
There's no reason why ARIA isnot fit, and just recently,
about two months ago, welaunched up in far north
Queensland, in Cairns, and we'reseeing great adoption rates to
our devices up there as well.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
So when are we going to see you here in Canberra?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
That's a million-dollar question, greg.
I'm in Canberra at the momentmeeting with stakeholders and
you know the Canberra BusinessChamber being one of them, and
you know you guys do great workon advocating for business and I
can say as a member it's beenvaluable the connections that
we've made through the chamber.
So thank you for your advocacyin that space.
Hopefully we're going to seethem this year.
(07:21):
We've been told that thetimeline is sometime this year.
So hopefully we're going to seesome action from the government
and actually get a new program.
Because I've been walking aroundtoday and scooting around, must
I say, and the technologythat's on the street is old,
it's four years old.
The devices are old.
(07:43):
There's helmets everywhere, noton people's heads.
There's people zooming aroundMeeting with stakeholders today
who told me they're justabsolutely fed up with them.
I can understand why.
Because when you have to dealwith pedestrians, prams,
cyclists, bins, cafe tables, arange of different hazards, and
then you have people zoomingaround on e-scooters that have
(08:06):
got four-year-old technology,then I'd also be fed up.
And this is the nation'scapital.
Why don't we have the besttechnology here?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Absolutely, because Canberra should be the jewel of
the crown in Australia.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
That's it.
Well, you know it's not thecapital for nothing and I can
tell you it's something prettyspecial riding around Lake
Burley Griffin on an REO andbeing able to ride up towards
the nation's parliament and seethat view.
Like you know, we've all doneit in the car, we might have
done it on foot, but I can tellyou it's just a whole new
(08:41):
experience.
When you see the museum, yousee the lakeside, you see the
parliament, you see all of theLake Burley Griffin itself, you
see these features that you readin a map or I picked up a
tourist map at the hotel earlierbut to see it on an REO, it's
just a whole new experience.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
So riding around the lake, which I did myself the
other day on my bike, is notnecessarily for the
faint-hearted.
How fast do the REOs go?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
So they do have a top speed of 25, but they can be
speed limited and we do that inmany cities where we have slow
zones or no parking zones, noride zones.
All of our technology is heldon our device so, unlike others
where they're pushing signals tosatellite, we're dealing with
it with our device, so instantlywe're seeing improvements with
(09:33):
how the device reacts.
So if there was a slow zonearound the lake and I'd be
encouraging one to be there,just given the number of
pedestrians and cyclists and arange of other things you would
probably look at having a slowzone so everyone can feel safe.
But today I was going 25, notalways 25, because there was a
couple of offshoots that aredirt or gravel that I had to
(09:58):
experience suddenly today, withall the upgrades that are coming
, but that experience was a lotof fun, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
So you've launched.
Sorry, when did you startlaunching?
About a year ago.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
So we started launching in late last year.
So we're sort of you know we'reseven months in now to the
business, but collectivelyaround the table we have over 50
years of experience fromdifferent companies.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
And what's been the customer response and the
reaction that you've found inother places?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yeah, we're seeing a huge bit of feedback recently
from riders and non-riders.
People who are riding them arefeeling safe.
They feel like this is not atoy.
The technology is game-changingfor them and we're seeing some
really positive results out ofNew Zealand game-changing for
(10:54):
them and we're seeing somereally positive results out of
New Zealand.
The cohort of people that we'retargeting is not your regular
18 to 25 year old male.
We're looking at that cohort ofpeople of females and older
generations, getting them ontoan REO.
An REO is a great way to run anerrand, to visit family friends
, medical appointments, whateverit might be, and there's no
(11:15):
reason why this device cannot bea vehicle of choice for
everybody.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
And having a vehicle on the street.
I mean, I guess they get a fairbit of wear and tear and so
forth.
How long do they last for?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, the lifespan depends on the use of the
devices and the number ofdevices that we have in a city,
but we have built the REO withsustainable products in mind and
ensuring that we do our bit forCO2 and for our own emissions
by having a vehicle that issustainable in its operation and
(11:55):
sustainable in how it's used.
Of course, the more rides thedevice has just like if you're
driving your car the more wearand tear you put on it, the
sooner it's going to need a bitof a trip to the mechanic.
Nothing different to an REOrio.
Our team work on the devices atall times.
(12:16):
We have a touch point on the onthe ario to ensure that we are
looking at ways to ensure thatis safe, that the brakes are
safe, the tires are great,everything is ready to go.
Indicators working, lights arethere, the helmets are if they
need replacing, if it needs, thehelmets get cleaned by our team
.
Every time that there's an REOtouch point on that scooter,
(12:37):
which would be no more than 72hours, you would see someone
wiping the helmet, cleaning thehelmet, and also that happening
a lot regularly as well, becausewe know that the Canberra
market, if we get theopportunity to come here and the
honour to work and operate abusiness here in the nation's
(12:58):
capital.
We know that Canberrans aregoing to love it.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And so how are they charged?
Do they need to go back to adepot to be charged in a 72-hour
session?
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Well, each of the device has a swappable battery.
So when we talk aboutsustainability, that is one
thing that we've really ensuredthat we have either e-cargo
bikes and central hubs forbattery charging, but also
ensuring that our batteries haveenough battery charge in them
so we can keep the device on thestreets and we simply bring
(13:30):
around batteries, swap them out,take the battery back.
We have a state-of-the-artbattery technology which none of
our fellow industrycounterparts have, and that
technology, because of the focuson lithium-ion batteries at the
moment, we've put a lot offocus in that technology.
So we've got different sensors.
(13:50):
If the battery charging unit isoverheating, it will turn off.
Send a sensor to the operationsmanager.
It's fitted withstate-of-the-art technology to
make contact with the firedepartment and other services.
So it's a really smart piece ofkit and what that does is
ensures that batteries arecharged safely and also that
(14:11):
anything that we're doing on thestreets, that we're actually
putting a safe battery back intoour devices.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
The e-bikes, I guess is the other thing I wanted to
ask about.
You run e-bikes as well asscooters in different places.
Are you looking to bring youre-bikes here to Canberra as well
?
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yeah, look we're open to bringing all of our
different vehicle options here.
Our first preference is, ofcourse, bringing our REO and our
seated REO.
We then have the REO e-bike aswell, and that's great for
longer distance travel.
We will work with TCCSTransport City Services here in
(14:51):
Canberra to understand what itis that Kemp Barons want.
Rather than me coming here andsort of telling locals what they
need, I want to hear whatlocals want, and any of your
members that have anysuggestions on feedback they
hear this podcast.
I'd love them to get in touchwith me and provide that
feedback as well, because that'show we learn as a business.
Reo is community first.
It's all about us coming hereand trying to dictate how we
(15:15):
operate our business.
We are just like any otherbusiness here in the territory.
We want to understand locals,support local and and do that
the best way we can.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
So I mean from a from a stepping back from the
details of your business, andit's a really interesting model
to be launching into multiplemarkets.
What advice would you have forbusinesses that might be looking
to take their product intoanother market where they
haven't been operating before?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
yeah, I think the first thing you need to do in
any of these situations is haveresilience.
Resilience that you're going tobe told no, far too many times
before you're going to be toldyes.
But the key is not to give up.
You know, continually engagingwith stakeholders and building
that community.
Support For me whenever I'mgoing into a new city.
(16:05):
I want to build social licence,and creating social licence is
not something that happens.
Support For me whenever I'mgoing into a new city.
I want to build social license,and creating social license is
not something that happensovernight.
If you are expanding yourbusiness into different
jurisdictions, different states,whether it's here in Australia
or internationally, intodifferent countries, you need to
understand the local lay of theland.
Pretending that you understandthat or that, if whatever
(16:26):
happened works in Canberra, it'sgoing to work in New Zealand,
it's going to work in London,it's going to work in the US
that's not the case.
Every city is unique.
Every city has its own set ofchallenges and own set of
parameters.
So resilience, patience, thewillingness to pivot quickly.
(16:47):
Sometimes your strategy is notgoing to be the right one and
you have to be able to, at amoment's time, be able to go
okay, I'm going to pivot.
I'm going to quickly reassessand I think the way we do
business now is dramaticallydifferent to how we did business
five, ten years ago.
It's ever evolving.
The customer is expecting a lotmore, the circumstances are a
(17:09):
lot tougher and earning a dollaris not easy.
So being out there, buildingthat resilience, being able to
pivot, but having the patienceand, most of all, have fun if
you don't enjoy what you do,being able to be passionate
about it when you're going tomeet new stakeholders, that can
be a challenge.
So I love what I do, I love theteam that I work with, the
(17:32):
technology that we have and I'mexcited about bringing it to the
Territory.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
So where does the technology come from?
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So the technology is all built in-house.
So we have a range of team bothhere and overseas.
We are part of a global companythat is a listed company, which
is based in Singapore, but ourhead office here in Australia is
in Melbourne and every officewe have different territory,
(18:01):
regional headquarters.
We have one in Lot 14 inAdelaide, we have one in Sydney
inbd, as well as botany, whereour regional warehouse for
sydney is.
We've got locations on the goldcoast brisbane, cairns,
townsville, christchurch nextstop, canberra so, and how many
(18:22):
people would you be employing inaustralia at this point?
oh gosh, I think the last checkat the moment would be 50-plus
right now, and that doesn'tinclude our partners that we
work with so small businesses.
Whether it's printing signage,whether it is spare parts,
whether it is van hire,warehouse hire, whether it's
(18:47):
trades because every time we goto a new city we employ trades
to come in and get the warehouseelectrical right, the plumbing
right.
There's small modificationsthat we make to the warehouse
for it to be local.
We source local printing, wesource local people on the
ground.
I was saying before, one of thethings in London that the
(19:10):
London cab drivers have to do isthey have to do a test to
understand and to prove theyknow the streets of London back
to front.
So you can't be a cabbie overthere.
If you don't know, you can'tpass the test.
Nothing's different to runningan area operation.
We want to make sure the peoplewe have employed at REO know
their local community.
So if you can't pass, the test.
Nothing's different to runningan ARIO operation.
We want to make sure the peoplewe have employed at ARIO know
their local community.
So if you don't know your localarea, if you don't know the
(19:33):
different suburbs betweenGungahlin, Mitchell and the CBD,
well, that's going to be thefirst step of getting your foot
in the door with ARIO.
I'm still learning where allthese places are, but I'm sure
that towards the end of ourrelationship, even before we get
started here in Canberra, I'llbe able to quote them back to
(19:55):
you, Greg.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
We'll give you a test on that next time you're in
town.
Mitchell Price from REO.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
It's been really interesting tohear a little bit more about
REO and the journey, and I wishyou good luck as you try and
roll the product out here in theACT.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Greg, thanks for having me Just a reminder that
this episode of the CanberraBusiness Podcast has been
brought to you by the BusinessChamber with the support of
CareSuper, an industry superfund with competitive fees and
returns, exceptional service anda focus on real care.
You can learn more atcaresupercomau and don't forget
to follow us on your favoritepodcast platform for future
episodes of the CanberraBusiness Podcast.
(20:34):
We'll catch you next time.
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