Unagi is expanding its e-scooter rental business to six new U.S. cities

Last year, we reported on e-scooter company Unagi launching a rental program that lets people rent its high-end two-wheelers instead of buying them. At launch, that program (called “Unagi All-Access”) was limited to New York and Los Angeles, but now the company is adding six new cities, and expanding its reach in the two in which it already operates.

The service will now be available in Austin, Miami, Nashville, Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle. In New York, Unagi is also extending beyond New York City to include Long Island, most of Westchester, and a large chunk of Northern New Jersey. Its increased LA footprint, meanwhile, now includes the Westside, Southeast LA, the San Fernando Valley, and Orange County.

Two price plans — Customers can choose from a black or blue Unagi Model One e-scooter (read our full review of it over here), and from one of two price plans. The first is a $49 a month option (month-to-month), the second is $39 a month but billed annually (a total of $468 a year, compared to $588 on the monthly plan).

Both plans include a one-time, $50 setup fee, and both include maintenance and insurance. Whether it makes sense to spend that much on a scooter that costs $990 to buy outright will likely come down to how much you use it, and how little you want to worry about maintaining it.

Unagi’s obviously hoping the dual conveniences of not having to share an e-scooter with strangers and the promise of no maintenance is enough to attract subscribers, and keep them subscribed. It hasn’t disclosed how many users it’s signed up since it launched the program last August, but says there’s been “incredible consumer uptake,” which has prompted it to “bring this service to a much broader audience across the United States.”

You can see maps of Unagi's service area for each of the cities it operates in here. Four of the biggest follow below:

Cash to pave the path to its dreams — In addition to opening retail outlets in Williamsburg, New York, and Venice, Los Angeles, in recent months, Unagi says it’s building out the requisite infrastructure to deliver its e-scooters “anywhere in the U.S. in a matter of days,” and that its raised $10.5 million in Series A funding “led by The Ecosystem Integrity Fund with participation from Menlo Ventures, Broadway Angels, and Gaingels, among others.”

It’s using its fresh cash injection to grow its team, boost its manufacturing capacity, and continue its mission to make Unagi “the ubiquitous standard for short-distance transportation.” We admire its optimism, and we like its focus on quality components and slick design. Now the question is how many other people the company can convince to forsake public transport, cars, cabs, or bicycles for e-scooters?