Case Study: Friiway Partners with Oyster to Protect Rental Bike Fleets

Friiway Background

Friiway is an electric bike subscription service with one clear goal: Be the easiest way for people to start riding an ebike. Without long term commitment and monthly or yearly subscription options, Friiway makes high-value ebikes accessible in a cost friendly manner. 

Riders get their pick between 2 top of the line ebikes with cutting edge technology - The Stromer ST2 Pinion ($6,990) and the Riese and Muller Multitinker ($7,259). Freeway riders get access to some of the best bikes on the market at a fraction of the cost.

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Problem

Unfortunately, bike thefts and damages are realities of the cycling industry. Joe Connors, Co-Founder of Friiway knew he would need contingencies to protect their bikes and riders, and so set out to build a multi layered security approach comprised of the following. 

• High-Quality Bike Locks
• GPS Tracking
• Bike Registration
• Insurance

High quality bike locks help prevent theft in the first place. GPS tracking and bike registration helps track down and identify the bike if it is stolen. Insurance was the final stopgap. But Joe had a tough time finding a solution.

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 “The space between rental and commercial is hard, I called probably 10 different brokers” 

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Insurance Problem

Friiway’s operating model existed in a grey area between two coverage types historically recognized by insurance companies: coverage for individual bike ownership and business bike owners. This made finding coverage incredibly difficult. Getting turned down again and again, Joe eventually got in contact with Oyster.

Taking what we learned from Friiway’s unique goals and needs, Oyster created a bespoke insurance option to cover ebikes from theft and damage for the duration of the subscription. It required the implementation of new technology, pricing, and coverage. 

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Coverage

Commercial insurance brokers Joe reached out to didn’t offer appropriate coverage at a reasonable price. To solve this, Oyster leveraged its proprietary platform data to create a new insurance product tailored to subscription and rental bike merchants. Coverage applies to Friiway’s insured rental bike fleet while in use, since the priority was to have the ebikes covered for the duration of the subscription.

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Technology

Friiway’s unique coverage needs inspired Oyster to build something that could sustainably benefit the entire ebike rental and subscription market. But where does the rubber meet the road? How can merchants offer and regulate this coverage while staying compliant? Oyster developed a web application in the Oyster merchant dashboard, a free platform stocked with insurance integrations for merchants. This product equips rental merchants to include theft and damage insurance with every rental, adding a the final contingency for merchants with valuable assets.

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Conclusion

Oyster's collaboration with Friiway has successfully addressed the complex challenge of insuring ebikes under a unique subscription model, allowing Friiway to provide peace of mind for their riders. Joe was pleased to have his situation addressed and spoke to Oyster’s potential for the broader market:

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“Oyster is pioneering the insurance market for a new generation personal light electric vehicles”

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As Friiway continues to grow and evolve, Oyster aims to support deeper integration and comprehensive insurance solutions to ensure the long-term success of ebike subscription services. This partnership represents a critical step in catalyzing the adoption of ebikes as a convenient and sustainable mode of transportation.