Bike share industry leaders Motivate and 8D combine best-in-class technology and operations

• Quebec entrepreneurial success uniting with major U.S. bike share operator to deliver expertise and software solutions
• 8D will maintain existing Montreal office and employees

MONTREAL, Feb. 9, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Entrepreneurial success 8D Technologies, a leader in innovative urban transportation management and payment solutions, has joined Motivate, a world class U.S. bike share operator. Together, the companies have a combined operational expertise, knowledge, and talent that create a powerful, competitive, and socially engaged industry player. The terms of the merger are not disclosed.

As internationally-recognized leaders in the field, 8D and Motivate are poised to enhance the technologies that deliver wireless and intelligent bike share solutions for customers across the 8D and Motivate networks. More broadly, this merger strengthens the capacity for both companies to deliver the best services and innovate within the rapidly evolving and global urban transportation industry.

8D Technologies powers nearly 40,000 bikes in bike share programs globally including Santander Cycle Hire (London, UK), Bixi (Montreal, Canada), ADCB Bikeshare (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and Melbourne Bike Share (Melbourne, Australia), and already provides the hardware and software for many of the bike share networks that Motivate operates world-wide. Motivate manages many of the largest bike share systems in North America, including Citi Bike (New York), Ford GoBike (San Francisco Bay area), Hubway (Boston metro area) and Capital Bikeshare (Washington DC metro area).

This merger immediately solidifies 8D's role in Motivate's contract to deliver a large-scale expansion of San Francisco's Bay Area bike share system, soon to be called Ford GoBike.

"This partnership is a testament to 8D's reputation as an innovative, forward-looking organization; it represents an opportunity for global recognition of Montreal's creative talent and bolsters our city's position as an international technological hub," said Isabelle Bettez, Co-Founder and former CEO of 8D. "Joining with Motivate, the industry leader in operations, will create a combined company capable of meeting the growing demand for our offerings and reaching new markets. Both companies will keep their own identities and 8D will retain all jobs in Quebec, which was important for us."

"Bringing 8D and Motivate together will accelerate bike share innovation and bolster our ability to revolutionize the landscape of cities," said Jay Walder, President and CEO of Motivate and the combined companies.  "Isabelle and Jean-Sébastien Bettez are innovators and pioneers who saw how this technology could be applied to bike share to transform urban mobility. They have been incredible partners and we look forward to growing the company's operations, expertise, and relationships within the context of a joint organization."

Celebrated for her entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and vision, Isabelle Bettez will be joining Motivate as a board member where she will play an important role in the combined company's strategic decisions and international expansion. Co-founder Jean-Sébastien Bettez, Chief Technology Officer of 8D, will maintain his role within the combined company.

The merger was facilitated by a significant investment in Motivate by Generation Investment Management, a firm with a focus on long-term investments in high growth, sustainable businesses. David Blood, Senior Partner at Generation, will join Motivate's board and advise on growth and strategic initiatives.

ABOUT 8D
8D Technologies is a world leader in the development of the most advanced, intelligent wireless, Machine-to-Machine (M2M), multi-function point of sale (POS) solutions, based in Montreal, Canada.

8D's unique green urban transportation management and payment solutions include the award-winning city parking system (8D APMS™) and bike share systems deployed on four (4) continents, in the USA (Boston, Jersey City, Minneapolis, New York City, Seattle, Washington DC area), UK (London), Australia (Melbourne), Canada (Montreal), and in the UAE (Abu Dhabi).

This solution features 100% solar-powered wireless terminals that can manage both street parking and municipal bike-sharing services. It also features real time wireless payment, remote management and monitoring of all terminal functions and components in wired and wireless environments.

ABOUT MOTIVATE
Motivate is a global leader in bike share. A full-service bike share operator and technology innovator, Motivate works to re-envision how people experience and move around cities. Motivate operates over 50% of the bike share fleet in North America, including five of the ten largest systems in the US: Citi Bike in New York, Divvy in Chicago, Capital Bikeshare in the D.C. area, Hubway in the Boston area, and BIKETOWN in Portland, OR. Motivate also operates Ford GoBike in the San Francisco Bay Area which is beginning a ten-fold expansion to 7000 bikes. www.motivateco.com

SOURCE 8D Technologies Inc.

Media Inquiries: Max Coloma, 514-843-2314, [email protected]

Related Links

www.8d.com