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Nextbike
German bicycle-sharing company
German bicycle-sharing company
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Nextbike GmbH |
| logo | Nextbike - neue Marke 2024.png |
| logo_alt | nextbike logo |
| type | Societas Europaea |
| traded_as | nextbike |
| predecessor | nextbike by TIER |
| founder | Ralf Kalupner |
| area_served | Europe |
| key_people | Leonhard von Harrach (CEO), Sebastian Popp (COO) |
| industry | Urban transport |
| genre | |
| products | Bicycle sharing systems |
| services | Mobile app, website |
| aum | |
| homepage | |
| foundation | |
| location_city | Leipzig |
| location_country | Germany |
| location | Erich-Zeigner-Allee 69-73 |
FORCETOC
nextbike is a German company that develops and operates public bike-sharing systems. The company was founded in Leipzig, Germany, in 2004. As of June 2025, it operates in 400 cities of 23 countries including Germany, UK, Poland, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland. The headquarters with about 100 employees are based in Leipzig. The bicycles and stations are maintained by local service partners. On 2021, nextbike GmbH was bought by TIER Mobility, adopting the joint branding nextbike by TIER until it was sold in April 2024 to a private equity firm.
The bike sharing schemes can be initiated by cities and franchise partners. The operating costs are financed by contracts with public transport providers & municipalities, rental fees and the sale of advertising space on the bikes themselves. nextbike also provides mobility programmes for colleges or universities and companies, integrating with urban and regional mobility.
Usage
Bicycle users are normally obtained through a subscription system, where each bike is locked to either itself or to a rental station. By scanning the QR code on the bike with the nextbike app bikes can be rented. The bikes can be returned via app, hotline, terminal. There are cities with a flex zone allowing users to return the bike anywhere within a defined area for a small additional fee.
Projects
National projects
nextbike operates in German cities such as Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg and Dresden. The biggest implementations of the system in Germany are in Ruhr, with 3,000 bikes, and Berlin with 5000 bikes. Besides large cities, it also serves about several smaller German cities, like Bonn, where it has 900 bikes.
KVB-Rad
Since 2015, the public transport company of Cologne offers around 1500 bikes for rent through nextbike. They are available everywhere within the flex zone and complement the public transport system. In 2021 the system was renewed with 3000 new-generation bikes after vandalism respectively theft, and the flex zone was complemented with stations outside of the city center.
Metropolradruhr
metropolradruhr was launched in 2010 as one of the biggest regional bike sharing system in Germany. It links ten cities such as Dortmund, Bochum, Essen and Oberhausen. Bikes can be returned in any of these ten cities.
VRNnextbike
In 2015 nextbike together with the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar launched another cross-city bike sharing system with more than 2000 bikes connecting Mannheim, Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen, expanding in 2016 to Bensheim and Speyer. nextbike cooperates with local universities and colleges offering special conditions for students.
International projects
Two of the biggest public bike rental schemes operated by nextbike are Veturilo in Warsaw with 3000 bikes and MOL BuBi in Budapest.
In 2014, several bike sharing schemes were launched in the UK, including the cities of Bath, Glasgow, Milton Keynes and Stirling. In April 2015 a new public hire scheme was launched in Belfast, branded Belfast Bikes. A scheme was launched in Cardiff in May 2018. The contract for the Bath bike sharing scheme ended in February 2019, and the bikes were no longer available to hire from the 8 February 2019. Described as Nextbike's "flagship scheme" in the UK, the Cardiff bikes were used even more often during the pandemic in 2020. The scheme in Cardiff shut down on 31 December 2023 after Nextbike stated that 3000 bikes had been vandalised or gone missing. NextbikeUK in Glasgow Closed down October 2025 with Voi Technology being awarded a tender with Glasgow City Council for 5 Years.
Gallery
File:Nextbike on-board computer.jpg|nextbike on-board computer File:Nextbike station terminal.jpg|nextbike station terminal File:MOL Bubi station.JPG|MOL Bubi station in Budapest File:Bykystations Dubai.JPG|Bykystations station in Dubai File:Fölläristation Kommunalsjukhusvägen 2018.jpg|Turku, Finland File:NextBike Lviv.jpg|Lviv, Ukraine File:Hudson Bike Share with Suez ad in North Bergen jeh.jpg|Hudson county, New Jersey, USA
References
References
- "TIER and nextbike unite to become the number 1 for sustainable micro-mobility {{!}} TIER Blog".
- Velo-city. "Sebastian Popp".
- Musa, Sela. (2025-04-29). "Nextbike breaks trip record with 51 million rides in 2024".
- "nextbike takes over VéloCité in Mulhouse, France".
- "Tier is pushing ahead Nextbike integration - energate messenger.com".
- (2025-05-22). "Tier sells Nextbike to private equity firm".
- Hubbard, Ben. (2024-08-05). "nextbike nets 25% more rentals in 20th anniversary year".
- "Community Led Public Bike Hire: A guide to introducing bike sharing to your city". nextbike uk.
- "Bike hire scheme returns with brand-new look".
- "Nextbike Stirling fleet to be upgraded through Santander partnership {{!}} BikeBiz".
- "Belfast Bikes".
- "nextbike – bikesharing in over 300 cities worldwide".
- "nextbike locations".
- "metropolradruhr {{!}} bike sharing in the Ruhr area".
- Mike Wilms. (2020-03-17). "Coronavirus: Nextbike in Berlin ab sofort gratis". Berliner Zeitung.
- Ottersbach, Nicolas. (2018-10-02). "Angebot von Nextbike gestartet: So funktioniert das Fahrradverleih-System in Bonn".
- www.adovo.de, Vipex Media Services GmbH {{!}} www.vipex.de {{!}} CMS: AdOvo. "Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe AG".
- Zeitung, Westdeutsche. (2020-09-13). "KVB Räder: KVB baut Leihradsystem im gesamten Stadtgebiet weiter aus".
- Anemüller, Stephan. (2021-04-27). "Neue KVB-Räder für ganz Köln".
- Fahrradverleih, metropolradruhr {{!}}. "Fahrradverleih im Ruhrgebiet – metropolradruhr".
- (2020-07-31). "Die blauen Mieträder sind ab Samstag einsatzbereit - Neustadt".
- "Studierendenrat der Universität Heidelberg – VRNnextbike".
- (2025-05-22). "Nextbike bike-share expands in Spain and Poland".
- "Rowery Veturilo kręcą warszawiaków".
- Hubbard, Ben. (2022-06-24). "nextbike wins largest bike-share system in Poland".
- (2016-02-26). "Bubi: Bike Sharing in Budapest".
- "Bath to get cycling with city's own 'Boris Bikes' scheme".
- "Glasgow unveils bike hire scheme at 31 city locations".
- Duncan, Jessica. (17 June 2016). "'Santander Cycles Milton Keynes have arrived". [[OneMK]].
- (26 March 2018). "First wave of nextbikes arrive in Cardiff in bid to reduce congestion". ITV News.
- Team, Bath Echo News. (2019-02-05). "Electric bike hire to be introduced as replacement for nextbike scheme".
- Barry, Sion. (2020-07-28). "Nextbike sees big rise in bike hires in Cardiff".
- (2023-12-08). "Nextbike Cardiff: Bike sharing scheme scrapped due to theft". BBC News.
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