U-M student-led start-up A2B Bikeshare gains traction

Keith Porter and Ansgar Strother, students at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering, found a way to take a simple idea (a bike share program) add technology (touch screens) and create a new start-up, A2B Bikeshare.

"Everyone likes the idea of bike sharing but the solutions out there were either too expensive or didn't meet the need," Strother says. "Being computer engineers we decided we could develop something better."

A2B Bikeshare is a 6-month-old start-up that calls TechArb home. Its technology enables communities to independently implement bike sharing programs. The company's technology outfits bicycles with touch screens that outlines how to use the program, swipe a credit or  membership card and go.

The technology, which recently second place prize worth $15,000 at the Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge, allows A2B Bikeshare to offer its services at a sharply cheaper price-point compared to other bike-sharing program.

"The whole touchscreen interface isn't found on any other bike-sharing program," Strother says.

A2B Bikeshare currently employs a team of five people and expects to add another 5-8 people this year. It is currently working out the final bugs on a prototype and will launch a pilot program at Google's downtown Ann Arbor office in March.

"We would like to launch our first large-scale system of about 100-200 bikes," Strother says.

Source: Ansgar Strother, co-founder of A2B Bikeshare
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.